The agreement was signed by the WLC and the Land Conservancy—with the support of Tsartlip, Tseycum and Tsawout leadership, generous private donors and Dr. Tara Martin, UBC Faculty of Forestry’s Conservation Decisions Lab Head. Subsequently, a $10,000 grant from the Cereus Fund through the Victoria Foundation to the Habitat Acquisition Trust was used to support the launch of the Lands Trust and essential work for upcoming transfers. The Cereus Fund was established by the late environmental philanthropist Susan Bloom.

August 3rd, 2023 the WLTS announced the return of privately-owned farmland at ȾIKEL (Maber Flats) for restoration as a wetland. This area was historically managed by W̱SÁNEĆ people for food, medicines and other important materials. SX̱ ELE,IȽĆ (pacific willow) harvested at the site was used to make reef nets, which are a unique W̱SÁNEĆ technology that enabled W̱SÁNEĆ to fish at sea. Unlike all of the other First Nations in the area, there are no rivers within the W̱SÁNEĆ territory so reef net fisheries are a fundamental part of the W̱SÁNEĆ identity as well as the economy.

ȾIKEL was converted to agricultural land as a result of colonization and is now in need of significant remediation to remove invasive species and restore ecological balance. The site also plays important ecological roles for the whole region and will be restored to a functional peatbog that will help to control flooding in the area and improve downstream impacts of pollution in the Saanich Inlet (another important harvesting site for W̱SÁNEĆ. Now that the W̱SÁNEĆ people have regained access to this land, an effort is underway to restore it to the wetland it once was.