We live in the city of Vancouver with almost a million other residents. We are blessed to be surrounded by mountains, forests, oceans and rivers. But how well do we know about nature in our own backyard? The Earth and the natural world are present everywhere – from the gardens of Kitsilano to the Lost Streams of False Creek to the mighty Fraser River and even at the local shopping centre!
Please join us for this exciting series of free walks this summer and fall. The leaders are amazingly knowledgeable in their specialty – so come along to listen to their words, connect with the land and ask lots of questions!
1) “Place of many bridges – a walk through history on the Fraser River’s North Arm” with Terry Slack
Saturday August 11 / 10:30AM – 12:30 PM
Please: only for those who are NOT afraid of heights!
Meet at the lower level of the Marine Drive Canada Line station at 10:30 AM. You can bring your bike. http://www.translink.ca/~/media/documents/schedules_and_maps/stn_exch/marinedrive.ashx
Since the beginning of the 19th century when Simon Fraser was the first white man to make a trip from inland to the river’s mouth – the Fraser River has seen many changes. Listen to Terry tell the story of how the river has evolved to deal with the millions of humans who now live on its shores.
Terry will lead you over the Skytrain bridge from Marpole and South Vancouver to Richmond. Listen to tales about the North Arm of the Fraser River. Find out about the history, the fish stories and how a river works.
And then some more discussions: how do you envision this large now vacant piece of riverfront land looking in the next few years?
Terry Slack is a retired fisherman who grew up on the North Arm. He is a community historian, a naturalist, an activist and a salmon person. He has a never ending love o the North Arm of the Fraser River and has worked hard over the years to save the natural environment of the Fraser River Estuary and beaches around Vancouver.
Please register at:
http://earthwalks3fraser.eventbrite.com/?ref=elink
2) “St. George’s Street Rainway – bringing a creek back to a city street” with Greta Borick Cunningham
Saturday August 18 / 1:00PM – 3:00 PM
Meet at St. George’s and Kingsway at Robson Park by the Storyteller’s Cob Bench.
Greta will walk north from there along St. George’s to describe where the creek went and what the plans are for the daylighting; bringing the creek back to life. At 7th and St. George’s she will stop to discuss the new mural!
This mural was created by the St. George Street Rainway group. It was created to bring awareness about the proposed daylighting of St. George’s Creek.
Greta Borick Cunningham is a keen naturalist and very interested in the local ecosystems. She just completed a Diploma at BCIT in Sustainable Resource Management. She lives on St. George Street, is part of the Rainway group and also is the Chair of the False Creek Watershed Society. She is presently working at Alouette River Management Society in Maple Ridge.
Please register at:
http://earthwalks4stg.eventbrite.com/?ref=elink
3) “Cottonwood Gardens – Paradise in the City” with Len Kydd
Saturday August 25 / 10:30AM – 12:30 PM
Meet at: Cottonwood Garden eastern entrance : near the corner Raymur and Malkin just south of Prior, just opposite the Vancouver Animal Shelter.
We will walk around Cottonwood Garden looking at the garden itself and the structures that were created there.
The history of this garden and how the community came together to create it is very interesting – it is a model of how community engagement and positive creation can create paradise!
Len Kydd has gardened at Cottonwood from around the time it was started in 1992. Len propagated and planted many of the trees and shrubs in the garden, including in the Native and Asian gardens and can tell the story of how Cottonwood grew into a uniqe urban green space, from the perspective of one who has had a key part in creating it.
Please register at:
http://earthwalks5cotton.eventbrite.com/?ref=elink
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Here are the other walks with details – happening until October: http://falsecreekwatershed.org/events.html
