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Learn about growing old-growth forests at our next general meeting.Comox Valley Nature members and the general public are invited to CVN’s May general meeting. where you can hear the following keynote presentation by our guest speaker:
"Growing Old Growth: The relationships that define the future of our forests" with Tal Engel of WolfTree Integrative Forest Rehabilitation.
Date: Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 3:00 p.m.
Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
(Members, please also take note of the special resolution to be voted upon, detailed on our website)
Tal’s talk presents an integrative and regenerative forestry approach to foster fire-resilience, moisture retention, and overall ecological integrity so that degraded forest ecosystems may endure the ever-increasing anthropogenic pressures to one day become old growth forests. He will present evidence that for old growth forests to develop, far more than just time is required.
Tal holds workshops for community groups in which he first explores how industrial forestry has radically altered the structure, composition, function, and relationships essential for the growth of a resilient and healthy forest. The second part of the workshops cover methods he has developed to help dense young forests recover from a century of industrial forestry.
This talk is based on the first part of Tal’s workshops. He will focus on his theories relating to succession, pathology, and cultural relationships in forests and will include an overview of forest ecosystems in crisis from other parts of the world.
Tal has kindly offered to conduct a second part of his workshop on June 1st in Merville. For CVN members only. Sign up at the General meeting to tour the farm where he puts his methods into practice.
Tal Engel is a forest restoration practitioner and regenerative farmer who lives in the Merville area. On his family’s farm, Honey Grove, he researches and develops forest restoration methods and models that his organization, WolfTree Integrative Forest Rehabilitation, applies throughout eastern Vancouver Island.
see more at comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/
www.wolftreeforestry.com/
We are pleased to offer a series of guided walks on Saturday May 17th, in Vanier Nature Park.Choose between 3 walk times that each have a different walk leader; each very knowledgeable about both oak trees, nature and the Vanier Nature Park restoration project.
The 10:00 am walk will be lead by Nick Page. Nick is a professional biologist who works on the assessment, restoration and management of species and ecosystems in coastal BC. He has a M.Sc. in plant ecology from UBC and works with Current Environmental in the Comox Valley. Nick grew up on Headquarters Road not far from the most northern Garry oak trees in Canada.
The 11:30 walk will be lead by Fred Newhouse. He is a Registered Professional Forester and has stewarded a woodlot for 27 years and worked in forest consulting for 35 years. As a Comox Valley Nature member he has volunteered for 15 years helping on projects including the Vanier Nature Park Garry Oak Restoration Project and Trees of the Year. He has conducted walks at Paradise Meadows for Strathcona Wilderness Society.
The 1:00 pm walk will be lead by Verna Mumby who has 30 years of work in arboriculture as a ISA Certified Arborist and Consulting Arborist. She says she is still learning every day from the trees. When not hugging trees she is knee deep in microscopy looking into microbes in the soil – or walking her dog in the nature of the wonderful Comox Valley.
The Vanier Nature Park project is being co-managed by Comox Valley Nature and the City of Courtenay with funding from both the City of Courtenay and the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. Each walk leader will share their unique perspective on this forest and this very positive project.
Registration is required.
Please be at the meeting spot at least 10 minutes before the walk starts to sign in. We will have a table with further information on this exciting project.
The walk is partially on level ground with some gentle to moderate uphill walking on a forest trail that has some uneven footing. No dogs please.
For more information or to sign up, visit comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/events/
Everything is connected, healing the land heals people:
Three knowledgeable Comox Valley Naturalists will introduce participants to the plants at the Airpark. Learn how this area was transformed from a sewage lagoon covered in slabs of concrete to a diversified city park. We will find many native plant species here that are reclaiming and recreating this natural environment.Frank Hovenden, the leading force behind these changes will highlight many plant species. Participants will have the opportunity to sharpen their native plant identification skills by the end of this botany focused walk. This is a 1 km walk on flat ground. Meet at the playground on Mansfield Drive.
Registration is required and limited space available so sign up early at This is a free event but donations are welcome. No dogs please.
Many people fear trees, especially big trees. Join us in this guided walk and overcome those fears. You will learn about tree bio-mechanics; how trees dance and move, and the importance of tree roots. Understand how trees help each other during storms and how they communicate. We will look at trees in Filberg Park in Comox on May 3 from 11 a.m. to 12:00. Please dress for the weather and wear sturdy footwear.Registration required at comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/events/ (no dogs please)
Admission is free, but donations are welcome
Author Archives: web_admin
Ruby Vie, CVN Bursary recipient, 2024
Ruby Vie, a graduate of Mark R. Isfeld Secondary School, was the 2024 recipient of the CVN Bursary. Ruby credits curiosity as the incentive that resulted in her academic success. She was involved in school Environment, UN, and Arts clubs … Continue reading
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Trees of the Year events, 2025
What’s up with trees? Join Comox Valley Nature as we get to the root of the matter. Over the past seven years, Comox Valley Nature (CVN) has hosted very successful Trees of the Year events, asking residents of the Valley to nominate … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Plants and fungi, Tree(s) of the Year
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Recording for talk on tracking larval Dungeness crabs
Comox Valley Nature recently hosted the following presentation at our January general meeting: Title: Community science for crabs: Tracking larval Dungeness crab across the Salish SeaSpeaker: Heather Earle (Hakai Institute)Date: Sunday, January 26, 2025 If you missed this event or … Continue reading
Posted in Guest Speakers, Shoreline and Marine
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Botany at Ruth Masters Greenway, January 2025
The Botany Group enjoyed a field trip to Ruth Masters Greenway in Courtenay on January 7. Ruth Masters was a prominent local environmentalist and activist, and was a long-time member of CVN. In 2004, she donated this important property adjacent … Continue reading
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Recording for talk on Puntledge Forest protection
Comox Valley Nature recently hosted the following presentation at our November general meeting: Title: Comox Valley Land Trust programs and the Puntledge Forest land protection projectSpeaker: David Stapley (Comox Valley Land Trust)Date: Sunday, November 24, 2024 If you missed this event … Continue reading
Posted in Conservation and Restoration, Guest Speakers
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Learn about tracking Dungeness crab across the Salish Sea
Comox Valley Nature members are invited to CVN’s online-only January general meeting. The keynote presentation will be as follows: Title: Community science for crabs: Tracking larval Dungeness crab across the Salish SeaSpeaker: Heather Earle (Hakai Institute)Date: Sunday, January 26, 2025Time: … Continue reading
Posted in General Meetings, Guest Speakers, Shoreline and Marine
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Botany at Seal Bay Park, December 2024
On December 3, a large contingent of Botany Group members enjoyed a walk in Seal Bay Nature Park, following the Coupland Loop trail. The main themes of this late-autumn outing were mosses and fungi, and many interesting and beautiful specimens … Continue reading
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Botany at Puntledge forest, November 2024
The Botany Group delved into the plentiful and diverse world of fungi in the Puntledge forest on their November field trip. Although walking only a short distance, it seemed the group saw specimens to examine every metre along the side … Continue reading
Posted in Field Trips, Learning material, Plants and fungi
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Learn about the Puntledge Forest land protection project
Comox Valley Nature members and the general public are invited to CVN’s November general meeting for the following keynote presentation: Title: Comox Valley Land Trust (CVLT) programs and the Puntledge Forest land protection projectSpeaker: David Stapley (CVLT)Date: Sunday, November 24, 2024Time: … Continue reading
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Botany at Paradise Meadows, October 2024
Now that the flowering season is over, the Botany Group returned to Paradise Meadows on October 8 to learn to identify the plants there by their other characteristics—growth habit, leaves, seeds and other clues. And, of course, to enjoy the … Continue reading
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