The Comox Valley is fortunate to have a number of streams, rivers and wetlands that form important habitats for a variety of plant and animal species.
Water is obviously also essential for the residents of our area. However, land development, pollution, climate change and other pressures require that wetlands be monitored and managed sustainably.
Three years ago, parts of the Cumberland wetlands dried up for the first time in memory. A group of residents installed five staff gauges in the wetlands and started taking weekly readings.
The 100th reading was just completed and the next phase is a comprehensive wetlands management plan.
A Wetlands Symposium is proposed for the spring of 2019 to bring together professionals and the public to discuss the future of Cumberland’s wetlands, and to increase public awareness of the benefits of the Cumberland wetlands.
Join Steve Morgan for an illustrated talk entitled, An overview of the current situation in the Cumberland Wetlands: hydrology, beaver activity, human impacts, both positive and negative, and the proposed development activity.
Morgan is a resident of Cumberland and has been involved in monitoring wetlands in the area. He is in the process of organizing a wetlands symposium to be held in May 2019.
This is an opportunity for the public to learn more about wetlands, and contribute ideas and suggestions for the upcoming symposium.
The lecture, hosted by Comox Valley Nature, is on Sunday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Rotary Room of the Florence Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton Ave. in Courtenay.