The Pender Islands Conservancy Nature Centre is now open!
After months of delay due to COVID-19 restrictions, our Conservancy Nature Centre opened in July 2020, and for the first time in its 27-year history, the Conservancy now has a home base. Come visit our space in Hope Bay and find out about all the projects we have on the go around the community, our shores, and in the Salish Sea. We have knowledgeable volunteers hosting the centre and brochures and books on birding, invasive species, gardening with native plants, protected and sensitive ecosystems on Pender, as well as nearshore, intertidal and forest ecology. Learn how you help protect land and habitats, and pick up one of our T-shirts, books, candles, gift cards or other merchandise, which will make excellent environmentally friendly gifts--the proceeds from which will help us in our work. Our hours in December are 11-3 Wednesday through Sunday.
We envision the Conservancy Centre as a resource centre, a lending library, a shared workspace, a gathering place for meetings, for sharing knowledge and information, small group seminars and educational presentations, and children’s day camps. Hopefully, next year when the COVID-19 vaccines are available, we can have all of these, but in the meantime, we have educational displays, lots of books and brochures, a children’s corner, informed volunteers to answer questions and share knowledge, and a small gift shop, the proceeds of which will help support the Conservancy. Hopefully, next year when the COVID-19 vaccines are available, we will be hosting small group educational sessions, day camps and other events in the Conservancy Centre.
We are grateful to the late Ursula Poepel and to an anonymous community donor, whose generosity made this dream a reality.
