Ecotourism and Nature Walks in Metro Vancouver Regional Parks
presented by Joseph Lin, President of Green Club at GVRD Super Saturday on October 26, 2002
Joseph Lin , at josephlin(at)shaw.ca, 604-327-8693

Green Club as one of the active Metro Parks partners
In the past 11 years, more than 10 Green Club community healthy Walk leaders and interpreters helped thousands of families, especially new Taiwanese and Chinese Canadian, to learn more about our Metro Parks. We have been all over Metro Vancouver from Crippen Parks in Bowen Island to Kanaka Creek in Maple Ridge, and from Campbell Valley to three watersheds.

We help people appreciate the beauty of the four seasons, learn the science of the nature, and apprehend the secret of the evolution. In spring, we learn about flowers, insects & warblers. In summer, we learn about forest, berries & marine lifes. In Fall, we learn about mushrooms, mammals, shorebirds & salmon. In Winter, we learn ferns, heritage & ducks.

Joseph Lin, President of Green Club, wrote news column articles to encourage people attending the annual events, such as Coho Walk, and youths participating in Catching the Spirit projects. He hosted broadcasting programs to raise the public awareness of conservation issues covering from drinking water to sewage treatment, and from solid waste management to climate change.

In order to achieve our regional vision of sustainability, we need to educate the public about our unique habitats and conservation issues in our regional parks. We would like include our community park partners and the public opinions and need to be more cultural sensitive for our social sustainability. Any economic development cannot sacrifice the environment and social justice.


We would like introduce overall habitats in our 24 Greater Vancouver Regional Parks. For example, we can introduce two parks per month, using habitat as the seasonal theme to organize the sequence of introduction/presentation. For each park, I focus on introducing two aspects: (1) the major habitat types of the park, and (2) current conservation issues facing the park.  In the following I will show you snap shots of the different habitat types that feature the 24 regional parks :

Muddy shore:
Boundary Bay Regional Park: Greenhouse in the upland field
Iona Beach Regional Park: primary sewage treatment, airport wildlife control, driftwood at north jetty

Rocky shore:
Belcarra Regional Park: recreational overload
Crippen Regional Park: 1920~1040s, Terminal Creek Hatchery for Coho & Chum release in June

Lake:
Burnaby Lake Regional Park: dredging, Loosestrife
Grant Narrows Regional Park:

Shrubs:
Aldergrove Lake Regional Park: 2 BC red listed species (Nooksack Dace and Salish Sucker)
Colony Farm Regional Park: wildlife disturbed, dogs must be kept on a leash

Bog: Blaney Bog Regional Park; Pacific Spirit Regional Park
Floodplain island: Brae Island Regional Park; Deas Island Regional Park

Grassland: Campbell Valley Regional Park; Surrey Bend Regional Park
Coniferous Forest & mountain: Lower Seymour Regional Park; Lynn Headwater Regional Park

River: Capilano River Regional Park; Matsqui Trail Regional Park
Fish habitat: Kanaka Creek Regional Park; Tynehead Park Regional Park

Deciduous Forest: Derby Reach Regional Park; Glen Valley Regional Park
Marsh: Minnekhada Regional Park ; Widgeon Marsh Regional Park

So far we have been talking about regional and overall approach.  Now, let us discuss how we can promote individual regional parks.  Here are the key points:

Take advantage of any existing resources.  This may involve doing some digging around or research to find out what kinds of scientific data or information for each park (or area around each park) are out there (exist).

Choose themes that can enrich the quality and depth of the interpretation.  In the example below I use seasonally as a theme to introduce Pacific Spirit Regional Park.

Nature Walks in Pacific Spirit Regional Park, Vancouver
Joseph Lin, at josephlin(at)canada.com, 604-327-8693


Clinton Trail Loop-South Musqueam
Meeting place: Park info kiosk at West end of 33Ave., Vancouver
Trails (Clockwise): Sasamat(22)-St. George(19)-Camosun St.-Salish(21)-Clinton(3)
Ecosystem: Old Deciduous Forest (cut, burned 1910) 
Special plants: Bigleaf Maple Forest, Cascara Woods(road 1930); Bigleaf Maple (73 yrs), Red Alder (73 yrs), Spiny Wood Fern
Special animals: Chickadee, Coho & Chum
Season: January/ Mid-Winter

Wreck Beach Trail Loop at West Shore
Meeting place: Welcome totem pole at Museum of Anthropology
Trails (Clockwise): Walk along Marine Drive, Trail # 6 downstair, Wreck Beach, Beach at Point Grey, Tower Beach, upstair at Trail #4
Ecosystem: Cliff & Rocky Beach 
Special plants: Big leaved Maple, Salmonberry, Oregon-grape, Sword Fern
Special animals: Sea Birds, fishes
Season: February/Late Winter

Hemlock Loop-Middle Musqueam
Meeting place: Park info kiosk at West end of 33Ave., Vancouver
Trails (Clockwise): Sasamat(22)- Clinton(3)-Salish(21)- Imperial(12)-Hemlock(9)
Ecosystem: logged in 1890, Douglas Fir-Salal, Hemlock, Cedar-Holly Woods, Old Cedar Forest
Special plants: Cedar (97 yrs), Red Cedar(117 yrs), Hemlock (134 yrs), Sitka Spruce
Special animals: Townsend Vole, Deer-mouse, Salamander, Wren, Kinglet
Season: March/Early Spring

West Canyon Trail Loop
Meeting place: Acadia Beach info kiosk, west end of Spanish Banks, on NW Marine Drive
Trails (Clockwise) : Admiralty(1)-West Canyon(27)-Chancellor(29)-Salish(21)
Ecosystem : Young Alder Forest (cleared 1951); Alder- Salmonberry, Bitter Cherry-W-Blackberry
Special plants: Bigleaf Maple, Bleeding Heart, Salmonberry, BC-Willow-T.Blackberry
Animals : Hummingbird, BC Chickadee, Warblers (in May)
Season: April/Mid-Spring

Imperial Trail Loop-North Musqueam
Meeting place: Imperial info kiosk at Discovery Street & 29 Ave., Vancouver
Trails (Clockwise) : Imperial(12)-Sasamat(22)-Hemlock(9)-Council(4)
Ecosystem : Old Deciduous Forest (selective log 1930), (4)Bigleaf Maple Forest, (6)Vine Maple-Elderberry, (5)Cascara Woods (road 1930)
Special plants: Salmonberry, Bigleaf Maple (73 yrs), Alder-Skunk Cabbage, Cascara-Mountain Ash
Special animals: Hummingbird, Warblers(May), Herons, BC Chickadee
Season: May/Late Spring

Camosun Bog Trail Loop
Meeting place: Park info kiosk at Camosun Street & 19 Ave., Vancouver
Trails (Clockwise): Camosun(34)-Queen Elizabeth School-Top(25)
Ecosystem: Camosun Bog
Special plants: Crabapple, Labrador Tea, Hemlock, Salmonberry, Mixed, Shore Pine-Birch, Sundew, Salal-Cascara
Special animals: Newt, Toad, Tree Frog
Season: June/Early Summer

East Canyon Trail Loop
Meeting Place: Spanish Bank info kiosk, east of Spanish Banks, on NW Marine Drive
Trails (Clockwise): Spanish(23)-Chancellor(29)-Pioneer(17)-Admiralty(1), Plains of Abraham, East Canyon
Ecosystem: Old Deciduous Forest (cut & burned in 1910): Vine Maple-Elderberry, Western Hemlock, Bitter Cherry-W-Blackberry, Hardhack-Salmonberry*
Special plants: Coltsfoot, Vine Maple, Hardhack-Salmonberry, Fireweed 
Special animals: Chickadee, Warblers (in May)
Season: July/ Mid-Summer

Sasamat Trail Loop
Meeting place: Park Centre or trailhead of Sasamat Trail on south side of 16 Ave at Sasamat Street, Vancouver
Trails (Clockwise) : 16Ave.-Top(25)- Sasamat(22)-Deer Fern(5)-Cleveland(2)
Ecosystem: Young coniferous forest (cut & burned in 1910): Western Hemlock-Aspen Grove, Douglas Fir-Salal, Cascara Woods (road 1930)
Special plants: Trembling Aspen
Special animals: Douglas Squirrel, Oregon Vole, Warblers (in May)
Season: August/ Late Summer

Lily of the Valley Trail Loop
Meeting place: Park Centre or trailhead of Cleveland Trail on north side of 16 Ave., Vancouver
Trails (Clockwise): Cleveland(2)-Lily of the Valley(13)-Newt(16)-Salal(20)-Heron(10)
Ecosystem: (cut & burned in 1910): Vine Maple-Elderberry, Douglas Fir-Salal
Special plants: Vine Maple, Red Elderberry
Special animals: D. Squirrel, Oregon Vole
Season: September/ Early Fall

Salish Trail Loop
Meeting place: Park Centre or trailhead of Salish Trail on south side of 16 Ave., Vancouver
Trails (Clockwise): Cleveland(2)-Nature(15)- Hemlock(9)-Salish(21)
Ecosystem: (cut & burned in 1910): Douglas Fir-Salal, Cedar-Holly Woods, Pure Douglas Fir-Bracken Fern
Special plants: Mushroom
Special animals: Douglas Squirrel, Oregon Vole, Wren, Kinglet
Season: October/ Mid-Fall

Fraser River Estuary Loop at South Shore
Meeting place: Simon Fraser historic monument at SW Marine Driver, Vancouver
Trails (Clockwise): Down to north arm of Fraser River, along shoreline, upstairs on Trail #7, old Marine Drive
Ecosystem: Blackish water marsh, cliff
Special plants: Cattail
Special animals: Sea birds, C. Garter Snake, Red-winged Blackbirds
Season: November/ Late Fall 

Acadia Beach Loop at North Shore
Meeting place: Acadia Beach info kiosk, west end of Spanish Banks, on NW Marine Drive
Trails (Clockwise): Walk along NW Marine Drive, Trail # 3 downstair, along shoreline back to Acadia Beach. Check the low tide timing
Ecosystem: Rocky beach to sandy Beach 
Special plants: Blackberry, salmonberry to sea weeds
Special animals: Sea birds, W. Garter Snake
Season: December/ Early Winter

So far we have been talking about our natural heritages.  However, we can also incorporate other points of interests, such as our cultural heritage and historical facts, recreational opportunities, special events and festivals in our promotion.


In addition, we can also highlight irregular and special natural phenomena whenever possible.  For example, this year sockeye salmon big run occurs at Adams River.  We can include this information in the promotion package.


To coordinate all these, we need a regional centre to integrate all these pieces of information and resources.  I have proposed an Eco-tourism Interpretation Centre at the east side of Tynehead Regional Park.  This centre could provide information to incoming tourists from south of the border.  In addition, it can also coordinate GVRD Parks seasonal programs.

Regional parks by themselves cannot possibly be sustainable without understanding and incorporating their environmental contexts.  The proposed Eco-tourism Interpretation Centre can be a vehicle for public education, involving local communities, schools, and organizations, heighten their environmental awareness.

He can guide natural history & heritage walks in almost every parks and community in Metro Vancouver.
He can also arrange tours to visit recycling depo, compost gardens and green buildings etc.
Contact person: Joseph Lin , at josephlin(at)shaw.ca, 604-327-8693