FOREST TRUST FOR THE CHILDREN OF CORTES ISLAND SOCIETY

The Forest Trust for the Children of Cortes Island Society (FTCCIS) continues its long- standing programmes. Our monthly nature study programme for youth families & visitors teaches naturalist skills in plant and bird identification binocular use mapping and orienteering and field documentation of interpretive observations. Our monthly field book includes poetry writing and forest riddles by children. Youth participated in the annual Xmas Bird Count documenting bird species & numbers in conjunction with the Cortes Island Museum & Archives and Bird Studies Canada/Audubon USA. We continue to collaborate with 4 other community organizations on ecological education through the Cortes Wild Partnership and EcoLab. We expanded the Indigenous language programme and interpretive signage of forest plants (from 2023) into the publication and display of a poster for increased public benefit. The FTCCIS Eco-significance Report 2023 continues to be constructive for educational and research reference and to highlight the value of the Children’s Forest and the documented species list grows above 400 species confirmed. We had 33 youth 25 adults and 31 volunteer helpers/directors participating in our ongoing programmes with an accumulation of 1340 volunteer hours to deliver the programmes and provide administrative support to pursue our purpose.

The FTCCIS organized and hosted a first workshop on mushroom identification and public education with 3 renown mycologists offering public walks and lectures conducting field research and collections and contributing fungi samples to the University of British Columbia Beatty Biodiversity Museum. The Children’s Forest was the site of a place-based education day with the local elementary school grades two through eight and a field trip for students from Simon Fraser University. The FTCCIS curated a museum exhibit on the Children’s Forest in collaboration with the Cortes Wild Exhibit and the Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society. The FTCCIS is profiled in a new book documenting thirty years of conservation on the BC coast. Communication and field walks were initiated between the FTCCIS and a provincial conservation organization regarding possible acquisition. We had 77 youth 130 adults and 33 volunteer helpers/directors participating in our new programmes with an accumulation of 1 518 volunteer hours to deliver the programmes.