We are looking forward to another year of fun educational events and stewardship activities in Woodhaven Nature Conservancy Regional Park. Please read on to hear about last year’s accomplishments and plans for the year ahead.
2023 in Review
We started the year with our AGM in March. It was held in a little old cabin at the UBCO Eco Culture Centre in Woodhaven. Our very own Nancy Holmes, along with past board member Astrida Neimanus, introduced us to the UBC Faculty of Creative & Critical Studies FeelEd Lab, which is part of the Eco Culture Centre. They also offered a group art project for attendees.
Our first educational event was in honour of International Bat Day and was presented by the Regional Parks team. Later in April, in honour of Earth Day, we organized a community cleanup of the Bellevue Creek corridor from Varney Court to the settling pond next to Woodhaven.
On May 29 we were treated to another educational event, this time on the topic of cougars. Chloe Howarth, lab manager at the Wildlife Restoration Ecology Lab (Wire Lab) at UBCO presented about the Southern BC Cougar Project. This fascinating research is led by Siobhan Darlington, Ph.D. candidate, and includes a cat named “C38 Joe Rich” aka the Woodhaven Cougar. This cougar’s territory is large, and the very outer edge includes Woodhaven and the Bellevue Creek corridor.
While the spring flowers were in bloom Nancy led us on a leisurely wildflower walk through the park. With Joan Burbridge in our hearts, and with her book, Wildflowers of the Southern Interior of British Columbia in hand, we wandered around the park identifying as many plants as we could.
Forest Yoga classes took place in June and September, led by Laura Martini as always. We were fortunate to receive grant funding from Regional Parks for both classes, allowing us to offer the classes at an accessible rate.
In September we co-hosted Riparian ReAnimation, an interactive presentation of giant puppets representing indigenous plants and animals. The puppets were operated by attendees and animated traditional indigenous stories shared by syilx Elder Pamela Barnes and Jasmine Peone. This was a truly wonderful event that came together organically, and collaborative efforts of the Riparian ReAnimation team led by Madeline Donald, Angela Roy from the Rotary Centre for the Arts, the Regional Parks team, elder Pamela Barnes, Jasmine Peone, and the attendees who brought the stories to life.
In October we tackled another round of forest fire fuel mitigation. We were fortunate to have support from four OKM Secondary classes and numerous volunteers from the community. Our first scheduled community work party was interrupted by a sleepy bear, but work resumed in November. Our friends at Regional Parks again assisted with coordinating volunteers, providing equipment, and arranging for disposal bins. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who laboured hard on this project. Your hard work reducing the fuel load will help protect Woodhaven in the event of a forest fire.
Last year we became official sponsors of Bellevue Creek through the City of Kelowna Adopt-A-Stream program. Friends of Woodhaven is committed to keeping the creek in pristine condition from Varney Court up to the pond by Woodhaven. We completed a fall cleanup in late November with help from our dedicated volunteers.
We welcomed a new board member last year as Astrida decided to step away from the board. We are fortunate to have Lindsay Bunn on board, who also graciously agreed to relieve Nancy of the role of Treasurer.
Plans for 2024
Mark your calendars! Our AGM will take place on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 10:30am. This year’s AGM will be held inside the Treehouse Forest Preschool cabin which is the little historical cabin near the Woodhaven parking lot. Our special guest will be ecologist and author, Don Gayton.
Our first stewardship activity is an invasive weed pull, scheduled for May 4 from 9:30am – 12:00pm. Registration for that will be coordinated by Regional Parks and will be included in the spring program guide. We will share registration information once it is available.
We will once again be offering two Forest Yoga classes with Laura Martini, and our members will have the benefit of early access to secure those limited spots. Stay tuned!
Nancy will be leading a bee-house building event around Easter, details to be confirmed. This will be an educational and stewardship activity focused on supporting our indigenous pollinator species, such as the adorable and docile mason bees. There will be two cleanup work parties for our adopted portion of Bellevue Creek in the spring and fall. Stay tuned for further details regarding that as well.
Forest fire fuel mitigation work will continue in the fall. This year, in partnership with Regional Parks, we are exploring the possibility of using a chipper to increase the amount of material we can tackle.
As our team works through the year we always come up with more ideas, and of course our wonderful members and supporters will be the first to know more.
Please remember to renew your annual membership! This can be done online here: https://friendsofwoodhaven.ca/membership
The cost for an individual is $10, or a family membership is $15. Thank you for your continued Support!
~Leah, Susan, Nancy, Kelly & Lindsay (your Friends of Woodhaven Board of Directors)