Friends of Woodhaven Nature Conservancy Society

Friends of Woodhaven Nature Conservancy Society ('FOW') continued its participation in the City of Kelowna's adopt-a-stream program to sponsor a portion of Bellevue Creek. Pursuant to this program FOW has committed to cleaning up garbage along the sponsored portion of Bellevue Creek at least twice per year which FOW did in 2024 with the help of volunteers. FOW received two financial grants from the Regional District of Central Okanagan ('RDCO') Parks department to hire a professional yoga instructor and offered two public yoga classes in the park at accessible costs to attendees. On May 4 2024 FOW collaborated with RDCO to host a volunteer invasive weed pulling event. This event was both educational and stewardship based. RDCO hired a professional biologist with specialized knowledge about invasive weeds to give a walking talk about some of the common and most problematic weeds in Woodhaven. Participants learned how to identify the weeds things they can do to help prevent the spread of invasive weeds effective control measures and why invasive weeds present an ecological threat. Then participants spent some time pulling weeds from a target area and disposing of them properly. Forest fire fuel mitigation work was again carried out in collaboration with RDCO parks local schools and community volunteers. Excess forest fire fuel was removed from the park by volunteers and program expenses were mostly covered by RDCO. FOW paid for refreshments for volunteers. FOW continues to advocate for a healthy environment in Woodhaven and for safe coexistence with wildlife in the neighbourhood.