The Strathcona Wilderness Institute is offering a workshop this summer on identifying lichens in Strathcona Provincial Park:
Title: Field Identification of Basic Lichens in Strathcona Provincial Park Date: July 27, 2024 Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Location: Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre, Paradise Meadows Cost: $65 – includes a copy of Field Guide to Basic Lichens of Strathcona Provincial Park Registration: Email Limit: 15 participants Instructor: Loys Maingon
Here is SWI’s description of the workshop:
This event is one in a series of “Discovering our Biodiversity” Workshops held each summer to promote the amazing wealth of flora and fauna in Strathcona Provincial Park. This specific workshop, led by lichen expert Loys Maingon (RPBio), provides an introduction to field identification of lichens found in Strathcona Provincial Park . There will be an in-class slide presentation and discussion in the morning in the Ruth Masters Nature Hall (lower floor of the Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre). After lunch the group will go out into the Meadows for on-site observation of lichens in the Paradise Meadows area.
Preregistration is required, with acceptance on a first paid, first served basis.
Please email for further information.
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The identification guide linked here was updated on July 13 with a few minor changes, replacing the version that was posted originally.
Spotted coralroot (Photo: V. McIntyre)
The Botany/Mycology Group held an extra outing in June (on June 12) at the Puntledge forest with the goal of finding mycoheterotrophs. A mycoheterotroph is a plant that gets its nutrients from a fungus during at least part of its lifecycle.
The group’s co-leader Véronique has created another very useful photographic identification guide to the mycoheterotroph species observed on this walk using her own photos and additional research. Below is a small selection of images from the guide. Download the guide here (PDF, 5.4 MB) [click a photo to see the uncropped image].
Beach plain in foreground, estuarine plain on opposite bank, wooded area with pond (not visible) in background. (Photo: V. McIntyre)
The Botany/Mycology Group’s May field trip took place on May 14 at Little River Nature Park and was well-attended.
This CVRD nature park has three special ecosystems which the group explored:
the rare and sensitive beach plain
the sensitive salt marsh estuarine plain
the wetland and pond area.
Many of the spring flowers on the beach plain were showing up on this trip.
The group’s co-leader Véronique has created another very useful photographic identification guide to most of the species observed on this walk using her own photos and additional research. Below is a small selection of images from the guide. Download the guide here (PDF, 10.3 MB).
Botany Group at Little RiverRocky Mountain pond-liliesCalifornia blackberry male flowerCommon forget-me-notMenzies’ larkspurSeashore lupine
CVN members and the general public are invited to this two-part workshop to be held on June 9 during World Oceans Weekend. You can attend either one or both parts of the workshop.
Refresh your birding skills with a presentation + trivia about the local coastal waterbird species, and learn more about the coastal programs at Birds Canada, and how you can help monitor the health of our coasts!
Part 1: Indoor presentation: Speaker: Rémi Torrenta (Birds Canada) Date: Sunday, June 9, 2024 Time: 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. PT Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
Part 2: Coastal bird walk: Discover the birds and biodiversity of Goose Spit, and practice your bird ID and counting. Pairs of binoculars and spotting scope will be provided if you don’t have your own. Dress for the weather. Leader: Rémi Torrenta (Birds Canada) Date: Sunday, June 9, 2024 Time: 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. PT Location: Goose Spit, Comox. Meet at the parking lot with the toilets.
Participants who are interested in joining the team of Coastal Waterbird Surveyors or Beached Bird Surveyors will have the opportunity later this summer to receive specific training, equipment, and identification guides (coastal waterbird ID guide and/or beached bird ID guide) for the surveys.
About the speaker
Rémi Torrenta is a biologist and the British Columbia Projects Coordinator at Birds Canada. He obtained his master’s degree in France, then a PhD in Ecology at Université de Moncton (NB), and he has been involved in avian research for the past 12 years. Rémi is currently managing a dozen programs in British Columbia, including all the citizen science programs, species-at-risk research, monitoring programs, Urban Birds, and Outreach/Education programs. He is convinced that conservation goals are better achieved through public education and citizen science.
Birds Canada is a non-profit organization, and the country’s only national organization dedicated to bird conservation. The BC Coastal Waterbird Survey helps track populations of living waterbirds on our coasts, and the BC Beached Bird Survey helps track bird die-off and bird mortality events. These are the most well-known of Birds Canada’s citizen science programs in BC.
Comox Valley Nature is sponsoring a special all-day event at Steller Raven Ecological Farm that will highlight native plant gardening techniques and research into the potential of such gardens for carbon sequestration. The public is invited to attend this free event:
Date: Saturday, June 15, 2024 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PT Location: Steller Raven Ecological Farm, 3177 Kentwood Road, Courtenay Host: Dr. Royann Petrell
Features
Tour existing native plant gardens and new experimental gardens
Speak with experienced gardeners
Learn how to convert lawns into native gardens
Learn about the carbon sequestration process
Seeds and plants for sale
Tour sign-ups
You can sign up online in advance for one of the guided tours planned throughout the day. The number of participants in each tour is limited, so signing up is recommended. See the selection of times and sign up for one on our Events page.
For more information
On April 28, Royann gave a talk on this subject at CVN’s monthly general meeting. The announcement for that meeting briefly describes how she transformed her small farm using native plants, and how that led to her investigations into sequestering carbon. Subsequently, we posted her slides from that talk which you can download.
Comox Valley Nature members and the general public are invited to CVN’s May general meeting for the following keynote presentation:
Title: Understanding our Watersheds “One Puzzle Piece at a Time” Speaker: Dave Weaver (Beaufort Watershed Stewards) Date: Sunday, May 26, 2024 Time: 7:00 p.m. PT Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
This 45-minute information session will present what the Beaufort Watershed Stewards are all about—their intent, how they are structured, what activities they do and where, the processes they use and/or follow, and where they intend to go in the future. This is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that has grown very quicky and has achieved much in it’s first 7 years—first by slowing walking, to now actually running at full steam—one puzzle piece at a time.
Two case-study programs will be highlighted briefly—the Hydrological Cumulative Effects Assessment Program and the Aquifer Mapping Program. The intent is to give the audience an overview of the details involved and the expected outcomes, ultimately aiming to better understand how our watersheds function.
About the speaker
Dave Weaver has had a varied career, working in forestry in BC for 37 years for many organizations. He was a Registered Professional Forester (RPF) since 1981 and has now resigned from this association when he retired in 2016. He started his career on Vancouver Island, working for MacMillian Bloedel Ltd, as an Area Forester for 11 years. He then moved with his family to Smithers in the BC interior and worked in silviculture and planning as a forest consultant for 14 years. Within this period, he worked 9 years as part-time College Forestry Instructor and for 10 years he logged on weekends as a hobby as a woodlot licensee. During the last 12 years of his career he worked for the Provincial Government in Silviculture Policy and Legislation, in Smithers and finally back on the Island in Victoria.
Currently in retirement, he is the President of the Beaufort Watershed Stewards. He assists with the administration and stream sampling and leads the Forestry Subcommittee of this group.
Red-flowering currant in Mack Laing Park (Photo: V. McIntyre)
The Botany/Mycology Group was privileged to have Marta Donovan lead the group in a very informative walk through MacDonald Wood Park and Mack Laing Nature Park in Comox on April 9.
Marta is a professional botanist who recently retired after working for 26 years for the BC Conservation Data Centre, a program for the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. She compiled the provincial list of plants in BC, assessing their conservation status and mapped the locations of species at risk in the province.
The two parks, while close together, evidence somewhat different environments and plant communities, and Marta very usefully pointed out the differences. She highlighted many characteristic plant species in each park in the context of the structural layers of the forest.
Following the practice started with the group’s March walk at the Tsolum floodplain, group co-leader Véronique has created very useful photographic identification guides to most of the species observed on this walk using her own photos and additional research. You can download the two guides (one for each park) here:
At Comox Valley Nature’s general meeting on April 28, the keynote presentation by Royann Petrell on “Native Plant Gardening and Carbon Sequestration” was well-attended and stimulated an interesting discussion. Some audience members expressed an interest in seeing the slides again, and Royann has kindly allowed them to be distributed. You can download the slide presentation here (PDF, 15.8 MB).
For more information about Royann’s work at her Steller Raven Ecological Farm and an event at the farm in June promoting native plant gardening, see this earlier post.
From Hand-in-Hand’s website: “Hand-In-Hand Nature Education is an outdoor educational program located in the Comox Valley and Campbell River that is designed to offer a unique learning experience for children who are walking to 17 years old.”
Jarrett Krentzel, founder and director of Hand-in-Hand and a former Vice President of Comox Valley Nature, recently reached out to CVN to solicit the donation of nature-based items for their annual silent auction. The auction’s proceeds go to their In-House Subsidy Fund which helps children from low-income families participate in HiH’s programs.
If you have nature-related items you could donate, Jarrett requests that you contact him by May 3 at with the following information:
Name of your donation:
Subtitle (optional):
Description of your donation:
Images: Please upload attachment(s)
Fair Market Value (The likely selling price on the market at a specific point in time):
Alternatively, if you would like to make a cash donation, you can do so on HiH’s donation page.
Posted inMiscellaneous|Comments Off on Help out local nature-based education
Join the Comox Valley Conservation Community for a day long celebration of the watersheds and waterways that connect us all in the Comox Valley!Learn about restoration and habitat enhancement projects, salmon cycles, drinking water, forests, creeks, wetlands and estuaries – and so much more. Art projects, kids activities, volunteer engagement opportunities, hands on learning and guided walks – all looking out over the beautiful Puntledge River.Comox Valley Nature will be there with our new outreach tent. Come by and say hello, and try our bird identification game. We can also show you why native plants are best for your garden, and how to spot invasive species.Pack a picnic and stay for the day! Saturday Sept 19th from 9 am – 3 pmin Puntledge Park 1111 1st , Courtenay ...
In her memoir, Pacific Northwest author Caroll Simpson recounts the highs and lows of running a remote fishing lodge on her own following the untimely death of her husband, and of falling in love with the natural world. Simpson tells stories of living in the remote wilderness and managing the lodge, becoming an accidental environmental activist, fending off wild animals, working as an angling guide and finally, fighting off a proposed mining operation and participating in the development of a government land management plan as a spokesperson for the wilderness tourism industry.While Simpson welcomed paying guests at Ookpik Lodge, unwanted house guests included a woodchuck, a pack rat, and martens. Simpson constantly had to watch out for grizzlies, moose, and cougars. Storms and extreme weather also provided fodder for hair-raising tales. All this makes for wonderful storytelling.Caroll’s story is essentially a love story. In an essay for Sierra Club, Simpson wrote: “I developed an immense passion for flora and fauna. Just walking back and forth on the 300’ dock several times a day, I was exposed to the unbelievable beauty of the northern spectrum of water life: the golden eagle soaring above, the osprey and kingfisher diving and coming up with fish for their hatchlings, the muskrats and otters looking for an easy meal, the tireless beaver working into the late evening sunsets. All of these creatures and more expressed their generational ownership of this small piece of the world. In return each was given my utmost respect and admiration…As I listened to the loons at the end of each day and the owl and the wolf in the night, I felt blessed to be witnessing such beauty. “On September 20th, join Comox Valley Nature and Save Our Forests Team for an afternoon of storytelling about this remarkable time spent living on a remote British Columbia lake.The event is being held at the Comox United Church Hall. (250 Beach Drive, Comox) Admission is by donation. Doors open at 2:30; the event begins at 3:00 p.m. There will be time for Q&A after the presentation, as well as books available for purchase. Tea/coffee and cookies - including forest-themed cupcakes - will be available for a donation.Join us, and prepare to fall in love. ...
🎟️ Get your tickets to the Project Watershed 2026 Keeping It Living Dinner today! projectwatershed.ca/2026-keeping-it-living-dinner/Every ticket holder makes a difference. 💙 🎟️ Get your tickets to our 2026 Keeping It Living Dinner today! projectwatershed.ca/2026-keeping-it-living-dinner/When community and local businesses invest in conservation, our entire ecosystem benefits. Ticket sales directly support habitat restoration, scientific research, and environmental education, while the generosity of our sponsors helps offset event costs, ensuring that more of the funds raised can go directly toward this important work. Thank you to our incredible sponsors and dinner attendees for believing in the power of community-led conservation. Odlum Brown Community and Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, 40 Knots Winery, CNB Together, we're keeping our watersheds living. 🌿 Hope to see you September 12, 5 - 8 pm at 40 KNOTS Winery #KeepingItLiving #ProjectWatershed #CommunitySupport #Conservation #ComoxValley ...
The City of Courtenay is developing a long-term vision for Bill Moore Park and Dogwood Park to guide future improvements. To help guide these decisions, three initial concepts have been developed, and there is an opportunity for you to offer your input.The latest survey on the City website engagecomoxvalley.ca/bill-moore-and-dogwood-park asks for feedback on three concept plans and specifically which concept you prefer. The three concepts present a range of recreation possibilities and there is room on the survey for your comments.Dogwood Park is a 2.32‑hectare nature park featuring mature forested areas, natural habitat and a small wetland. Only Concept A will maintain the intact forest areas in Dogwood Park. Concepts B and C propose increased recreation in the park including an off leash dog park, disc golf course, pump track (a purpose built track for children’s cycling) and nature play areas. While the planners may say that no trees or few trees will be taken down to accommodate this, the under-story will not survive this level of trampling and fragmentation. The trees as well as all the wildlife who now call that area home will disappear over time. For those of us who value this forest, Concept A is the only option that makes sense.Dogwood Park is one of the few islands of green for many, many blocks. It provides habitat for wildlife, shade, retains water and acts as a carbon sink. On the architect's base plan of current conditions it is now characterized as an "underutilized space". The City has heard from sports enthusiasts but not nature lovers. Let them know why you value an intact forest and your connection to it. The survey is open until Sept 15. ...
The Canadian Coalition for Invasive Plant Regulation (CCIPR) wants the federal government to establish a regulatory body for the horticultural industry and create a national database identifying invasive plants and their risks in different regions. "Even if we don't prohibit them, we need to let the public know when there is potential harm," said CCIPR co-founder Cathy Kavassalis. "We do this on other products, and we should do it on plants too. It's just common sense."In July, Nanaimo council passed a motion to pursue a bylaw amendment restricting the sale of plants on a list maintained by the Invasive Species Council of B.C. A week later, Surrey moved to ban sales by businesses including nurseries, large retail chains and florists. Kavassalis said a problem that could be addressed at higher levels of government is being pushed down to municipalities."These are all patchwork solutions that, in some ways, just waste a lot of resources," she said. The CCIPR says a national database could give provinces, territories, retailers and gardeners a shared source of information about which plants pose risks in different regions. Kavassalis also wants invasive plants removed from shelves or clearly labelled.For more on this story visit www.cbc.ca/news/science/invasive-plants-sale-federal-regulation-9.7312362 or see our link in bio ...
