Cowichan Valley Naturalists

Free tours on top of the weir at Lake Cowichan! Learn how this vital structure is important for the environment and why it needs to be updated.

Date: Sat, March 22
Time: 10am-1:30pm
Location: Saywell Park

Ecological Foresters Kelly Loch RPF and Heather Pritchard RPF will team up to teach us about the critical role of riparian ecosystems.

From ocean shores to headwater creeks, the places where land and water meet are essential for protecting healthy watersheds and aquatic habitats yet are often not understood and appreciated for their vital role. Come to learn how best practices for riparian management can help protect these important spaces and what we can all do collectively as engaged citizens to support the function and beauty of riparian areas.

Meet the Speakers:

Heather Prichard is a Professional Forester with over 35 years experience working primarily in community forestry, soil conservation, species at risk, and riparian restoration. Originally from Saskatchewan, Alberta, and then the Interior of BC, Heather moved to the Cowichan Valley 10 years ago and is now working as the Research and Restoration Director for the Cowichan Watershed Board. Heather enjoys working with the very knowledgeable and caring people of the Cowichan Valley, looking for solutions for difficult problems associated with land management and finding ways to restore stressed aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Kelly Loch is a Registered Professional Forester with an M.Sc. in Forest Science (Hydrology) from the University of Alberta. As the Green Shores Projects Manager with the Stewardship Centre for BC, she manages all Green Shores project implementation phases, from initial enquiries to certification. She is also a member of the Resilient Coasts For Salmon Project team. This five-year project is a collaboration between the Stewardship Centre and the Pacific Salmon Foundation. It includes community outreach and engagement, Green Shores training, establishing demonstration sites, and shoreline mapping to build public awareness and community capacity to adopt nature-based solutions that support protection and enhancement of riparian areas on marine and lake settings. Kelly is a Green Shores Approved Professional, having completed Green Shores training Levels One, Two and Three. She is also a Green Shores for Homes (GSH) Verifier, A Green Shores Level One and Level Two Instructor, and, as a Green Shores Local Government Working Group member, has expertise in Green Shores Policy and Regulatory Tools for Local Government. Kelly acknowledges with gratitude that she lives and works on the traditional territory of the Quw’utsun First Nation.

About the workshop: Since 2006 here in Cowichan, Elders have been sharing their stories, their history and their healing following the values of nuts’amaat shqaluwun, people working together with one heart, one mind, one spirit. As the Elders reminds us, the longest journey is from our head to our hearts. We each have much to learn along the way as we learn forgiveness, and the values found in kindness, expressed through love guided by respect.
Join Quw’utsun’ Elders who will take you on a journey through time with stories of pre-contact village life, the arrival of settlers, the development of colonies and policies of colonization. Sit inside western systems and indigenous ways of being to experience the impacts, effects and changes brought about by colonization. Explore the questions of where and how we go from here and join thousands of people who have participated and are committed to walking the journey of Q’shintul.

For more info look up: (8) Facebook

For details contact: phaedra@somenosmarsh.com

For details contact: phaedra@somenosmarsh.com

The group will rendezvous at Any Hutchins park and either carpool or walk in from there (your choice!). 4 people minimum need to confirm before we go ahead with each date.  Laura Mitic will be your friendly field supervisor.

The group will rendezvous at Any Hutchins park and either carpool or walk in from there (your choice!). 4 people minimum need to confirm before we go ahead with each date.  Laura Mitic will be your friendly field supervisor.

The group will rendezvous at Any Hutchins park and either carpool or walk in from there (your choice!). 4 people minimum need to confirm before we go ahead with each date.  Laura Mitic will be your friendly field supervisor.

The group will rendezvous at Any Hutchins park and either carpool or walk in from there (your choice!). 4 people minimum need to confirm before we go ahead with each date.  Laura Mitic will be your friendly field supervisor.

The group will rendezvous at Any Hutchins park and either carpool or walk in from there (your choice!). 4 people minimum need to confirm before we go ahead with each date.  Laura Mitic will be your friendly field supervisor.

The group will rendezvous at Any Hutchins park and either carpool or walk in from there (your choice!). 4 people minimum need to confirm before we go ahead with each date.  Laura Mitic will be your friendly field supervisor.

The group will rendezvous at Any Hutchins park and either carpool or walk in from there (your choice!). 4 people minimum need to confirm before we go ahead with each date.  Laura Mitic will be your friendly field supervisor.