CERCA's Cowichan Estuary Nature Trail Living Up To Expectations
Estuary nature trail serving its purposeWithin the past couple of weeks CERCA's Cowichan Estuary Nature Trail serving as an open air classroom enjoyed the visit of two groups of Cowichan Secondary students, two groups of UVIC students and one group of the Cowichan Elder College, totalling more than 100 persons eager to learn about the history of the estuary, its ecological complexity, and socio-cultural, ecological and economic importance. It proved to be a great challenge but also a great pleasure lecturing the three distinctively different target groups on the ecology, challenges and opportunities of the Cowichan-Koksilah Estuary during the two hour guided walk along CERCA's illustrated nature trail in the heart of the estuary with each group. The "land-based learning program" of Cowichan Secondary is a new approach by the School to provide Grade 10-12 students with the opportunity of "place-based, experiential learning" to develop connections to our community and natural world and further cultural understanding. This excellent hands-on program currently involves 44 students. When asked how many of them had actually visited the estuary before it turned out to be a shockingly few. This reflects the importance of the new initiative by the Cowichan Secondary School to re-conciliate students with nature and their environment. One of the next targets within this program will be the Somenos freshwater marsh, an excellent way to expose the students to two Key ecosystems within their backyard.
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CERCA's Estuary Nature Trail, the Somenos Marsh Open-Air classroom and the Nature Center in Cowichan Bay provide a unique educational opportunity to numerous target groups to touch, see, smell, hear, or taste nature. The rationale for CERCA's Nature Trail Open-Air Classroom is to raise the level of environmental awareness, specifically awareness related to the Cowichan Estuary, its marshes, associated watershed and the Cowichan floodplain. There is a need for people to understand the ecological, socio-economic and cultural importance of estuaries in order to appreciate the need for restoration efforts. With understanding the complexity of estuarine and other ecosystems comes appreciation for responsible management. Giving people an opportunity to have hands-on experience with nature will assist them in developing respect for the environment. The estuary nature trail also show-cases the Cowichan Estuary’s past and current central importance to First Nations and the recreational and educational opportunities by addressing a wide range of target groups and all age classes. Whether self-guided making use of the comprehensive signage at the trailhead kiosk and along the trail or guided the estuary trail receives increasing attention going for beyond our boundaries. Hosting and lecturing UVIC's second and third year students during their visit of the estuary nature trail as part of a course in Coastal Geography continues to be a rewarding experience. This course explores a wide variety of coastal topics from biophysical, ecological, and social-economic perspectives which all can be discussed and observed on site in the middle of the estuary. Topics discussed along the trail focus on a typical coastal landscape and community including fundamentals of coastal oceanography, climate, biodiversity, water quality, fisheries, indigenous people, tourism and implications for management. It is the third year in a row that CERCA has hosted the Coastal Geography Class offering a 2 hour guided trail walk with a lecture that has become highly popular. The positive feedback from UVIC students shows how important field visits are as part of the academic curriculum.
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The third group comprised of members of the Elder College involving community members over the age of 50 is distinctly different from secondary and tertiary educational programs. Members of the Elder College registering for the guided educational trail-walk do this on their own accord for a variety of reasons but mostly due to an interest in deepening their knowledge and learning more about the estuary, its history and ecological importance. This course has been offered by the Elder College for the second year. Judging by the increasing number of persons registering for the guided trail walk conducted in spring and fall it has stirred up a lot of interest in the community.
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Great interest by the CVRD Elder College in guided estuary nature walksMeanwhile CERCA continues to receive inquiries from trail users mostly regarding the lack of trail maintenance. It is true that blackberries and other vegetation are successfully trying to reclaim the trail after CERCA was asked by the Lessee of the area (Tidal Harmony Holdings/Western Stevedoring) in October 2016 to stop all work on the trail including maintenance due to liability issues. You may recall that unfortunately only one third of the trail had been completed at the time although all twenty interpretative trail signs are ready to be placed along the trail. We are still hoping for permission by Western Stevedoring to finish the last development phase of the trail and to allow CERCA to resume the work on trail maintenance.Dr. Goetz SchuerholzCERCA Chair