Dear Forest Friends,
With your support the CCFS has continued to advance the protection of forests, drinking water and ecosystems surrounding our community in 2023! This past year has been a remarkable one, filled with rich collaborations and exciting new projects. Hundreds of committed community volunteers have joined us in building community climate resilience locally, regionally, and globally.
From the Perseverance Streamkeepers and the Western Toad Initiative to the Cumberland Bat Project and Invasives Management, stewardship and citizen science has been central to the work of the CCFS. In the past year our volunteers have rescued thousands of salmon fry stranded by drought, collected important data about species at risk for the BC Community Bat Program, provided trailhead public education to protect the tiny toads who call our watershed home, and tackled invasive species at the forest’s edge.
This past year we coordinated dozens of guided walks with local knowledge holders, facilitated after school programs connecting art and science, delivered weeklong educational programming at both the Earth Week Festival and Fungus Fest, and kicked off our 2023/ 2024 Science Pub Series. We launched our new Forest in the Village initiative and planted trees in partnership with residents within the Village core and we continue to work with our educational partners to develop agreements and projects to support ecosystem health and reduce human impacts in the Cumberland Forest.
Restoration projects are now underway in the Lower Perseverance & Coal Beach area and a new partnership called the Perseverance Watershed Initiative (PWI) is bringing together the private forest industry, conservation leadership, and the Village to develop strategies and identify priority lands to protect the source of our drinking water. The CCFS team is also actively working to identify our next purchase area and current and upcoming fundraising events are dedicated to developing our land acquisition reserve fund. We encourage you to stay tuned for exciting updates in the months ahead.
As 2023 winds down, we ask you to consider us in your year-end giving. We commit to put those funds to work, with passion and integrity, toward land and water protection, stewardship, ecological restoration, and environmental education in 2024
Kind Regards,
The CCFS Board of Directors.
Guardian Donors in 2023: Perseverance Trail Run / Li – Grimmer Family / Martha Johanson / The Cumby / Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program / Sitka Foundation / Environment and Climate Change Canada / Comox Valley Regional District / Comox Valley Land Trust / Village of Cumberland / Cumberland Brewing Company / Harmonic Arts. Learn more about the incredible supporters of the CCFS at www.cumberlandforest.com