CVN Facebook Posts
🌻Comox Valley Nature invites the public to our in-person April general meeting:Date: Sunday, April 28, 2024
Time: 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. PT
Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
Keynote Presentation: Native plant gardening and carbon sequestration
Speaker: Royann Petrell
🌻A native plant garden over a grassy lawn is not only beneficial for wildlife and pollinators but also has the potential to sequester carbon. When carbon is sequestered in a garden, carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and held in the soil. The process plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
🌻Dr. Royann Petrell (Associate Professor Emerita, University of British Columbia) will provide background material about native plant gardening and some information about an event planned for June 15, 2024 at Steller Raven Ecological Farm. There will be time for questions and discussion from the audience.
🌻Royann worked on a carbon sequestration research project for Project Watershed for three years and became very interested in how the process works. Royann and her husband Sylvain have been rehabilitating much of their 7.5 acre Steller Raven Ecological farm with native shrubs and trees, wildlife trees, ponds and streams, and over the last five years, native Vancouver Island grasses and flowering plants. Plants most suitable for carbon sequestration are long-lived and rooted perennials that are adapted to our wet winters and hot and dry summers.
🌻find out more at the general meeting, or visit comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/
Be a tree tourist in your own hometown!The nomination period for CVN’s Trees of the Year 2024 event ended on March 31. Once again we’ve seen how passionate and observant you, our community members, are about the trees around us in both our urban and rural environments. This year, you nominated 27 trees to celebrate, including specimens of 11 different species.
Take this opportunity to join us on April 27th, from 12:30 to 2:30pm, for this 5km walk around some of the beautiful and interesting trees around Comox.
Tree experts, Karen Cummins and Verna Mumby are leading this 2 hour tour, visiting more than 20 trees nominated this year as well as others from past years!
Comox location. Details when you register. Limited numbers – register early
This is a FREE walk for the general public. Donations are welcome.
To join the waitlist or cancel your reservation email;
🌸 On Friday April 26th at 1.00pm join an experienced Naturalist for a walk around the Courtenay River Airpark. Learn about the history of the park, and how this once neglected space has become one of the most popular walking spots in the Comox Valley.🌸You'll see native plants such as Red Flowering Currant and Garry Oak. The park is also a favoured spot for birding, with migrant and resident birds benefiting from the diverse plant life that now edges the estuary.
🌸All this is a result of the ongoing habitat restoration work, carried out by a dedicated team of volunteers, led by Frank Hovenden
🌸 Book early to reserve your spot, at comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/events/
🌸For more information, to add your name to the waitlist or to cancel your reservation please email
Great news!!📣 The company taking apart derelict vessels in Union Bay, B.C., K’ómoks First Nation territory, has been hit with a pollution abatement order from the province!Kudos to the groups that championed the issue such as @K’ómoks First Nation, @NGOShipbreakingPlatform , Concerned Citizen of Baynes Sound and many individuals who worked hard organizing action.
Hopefully this will put an end to the containments from the ship-breaking site harming fish habitats and local communities!
As a recent CBC article explains, “Deep Water Recovery is illegally allowing toxic effluent to run off into Baynes Sound and the marine environment off Vancouver Island's east coast, B.C.'s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy has found.
Discharges from the ship-breaking operations are collected in sump pits, which occasionally overflow with untreated effluent, the province says. Testing of that runoff confirmed high concentrations of pollutants, including copper, iron, zinc and cadmium.
The ministers said provincial government is doing what it can to enforce regulations and respond to concerns in areas under its jurisdiction, but they said they "remain very concerned that Canada is not actively regulating and communicating your regulatory actions in the marine environment."
Hope you can look up the article and read more!
➡️ If you want to take more action to keep derelict vessels from polluting the water, head to our website and join us in asking your MP to support Bill C-344 to legislate solutions for abandoned vessels!��📸 Mitch Miller
🌎 On April 13th from 10 am to 2, join knowledgeable Geologist Bob Hauser on this longer walk to view a few of the glacial features of the Comox Area.🌎 This 7 km loop walk will be enjoyable for people with a good level of fitness and an interest in geology.
🌎It comprises trails, roads and cobble beach. Please wear sturdy footwear. Bring snacks and water. Trekking poles might be useful.
For more information or to join the waitlist visit comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/events
Category Archives: Mammals
New article: Thermoregulation in sea lions
In a second fascinating long-form article by CVN member Véronique McIntyre, we learn about the why’s and how’s of sea-lion behaviour like that in this photo. Read the article here: “Some Like It Hot: Thermoregulation in Sea Lions“. If you … Continue reading
Winter observations
From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on December 24. Wishing you all a belated happy solstice and a Merry Christmas. A rare white Christmas this year! Between deluges of rain and the current wintery state, botany walks … Continue reading
Posted in Mammals, Miscellaneous, Plants and fungi
Comments Off on Winter observations
Recording available for talk on bear dens and logging
CVN members were invited to a talk hosted by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists on April 6 via webinar. The guest speaker was Helen Davis (Artemis Consulting) whose topic was Impacts of Forest Harvesting on the Supply of Bear … Continue reading
Posted in Guest Speakers, Mammals
Comments Off on Recording available for talk on bear dens and logging
Learn about logging and bear dens
The Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists is hosting a free online lecture as follows: Title: Impacts of Forest Harvesting on the Supply of Bear Dens in Coastal BCSpeaker: Helen DavisDate: Tuesday, April 6, 2021Time: 10:00 a.m. PDT This talk is … Continue reading
Posted in Conservation and Restoration, Guest Speakers, Mammals
Comments Off on Learn about logging and bear dens