В Ковичане пройдут публичные мероприятия по вопросам охраны природы, финансирования паромов и ремесел

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Nature Cowichan is hosting a talk on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Lesley Fox, executive director of The Fur-Bearers, will explore B.C.’s Wildlife Act and trapping regulations from a conservation perspective. The talk will delve into the question: with wildlife facing mounting pressures, why does trapping persist, and what does it mean for B.C.’s fur-bearing animals and for naturalists who care about their future? Get the link to the Zoom gathering through email: [email protected] ••• MP Gord Johns is holding a series of Fair Federal Ferry Funding Now! public rallies in Vancouver Island and coastal communities through September, calling for fair, stable and long-term federal funding for B.C.’s coastal ferry services. The Cowichan rally will be held on Thursday, Sept. 17 from 9-9:30 a.m. at Charles Hoey Park in Duncan. The rallies are non-partisan and focused specifically on federal ferry funding, a press release said. For people in coastal and Island communities, ferries are essential transportation infrastructure, connecting residents to work, health care, education, family and vital goods and services, the release said. Federal support for B.C.’s coastal ferry system remains dramatically lower than support provided to federally funded ferry services in Atlantic Canada. With the federal-provincial funding agreement now under review, Johns, who is the MP for Courtenay-Alberni, is calling on coastal communities and their elected representatives to demonstrate broad support for a modernized federal funding partnership. The rallies are not focused on the provincial management or operation of BC Ferries, the release said. Rather, their purpose is to build a united coastal voice for greater federal recognition of ferries as an essential part of Canada’s transportation infrastructure. ••• The Cowichan Watershed Board presents Speaker’s Night on Sept. 21, with a talk by Dr. Tara Martin. This kicks off the free Fall Speakers Series. Martin is a Forestry professor and lead scientist for the Martin Conservation Decisions Lab, and the inaugural Liber Ero Chair in the Conservation at the University of British Columbia. Her work focuses on centering Indigenous values, knowledge and sovereignty through conservation decision science in coastal B.C. including research in the Cowichan Estuary and Ye’yumnuts, said a press release for the event. The event runs from 7-8:30 p.m. at VIU Cowichan, Lecture Hall 140. ••• The Tzouhalem Spinners and Weavers Guild is hosting a Weavers & More Show and Sale from Oct. 15-17. The event takes place at the Cowichan Community Centre on James Street in North Cowichan. It is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 15 and 16 and from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 17.