Wild Bird Trust of BC Events

Upcoming Events

The Maplewood Flats Conservation Area hosts a variety of walks and tours throughout the year. Check out our Calendar below to see what events are coming up and register your spot!

All ticket sales are on a sliding scale, proceeds support restoration projects on-site.

Past Events

recordings of our livestreamed events

YouTube Video VVVXOEVwclh1RV9DMFhSM2VPYXdaWC1nLmxkaTF2NWpBeEdj

The 16th Annual Osprey Festival is a unique celebration of shared lands and cultures in North Vancouver.

The Osprey Festival is a platform for the general public to learn about reconciliation-in-action with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. The Festival features plant and bird walks, local and national-touring musical acts on an outdoor stage, tasty festival food, a children’s zone, and visual arts.

Located in the heart of unceded lands of the Tsleil-Waututh, the Nature House at Maplewood Flats serves as the Festival hub, with a main stage near the trail entrance, and programming activities located across the 311-acre site.

This year, the festival spanned 2 days to include the 3rd annual "Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Change Action Symposium"

Connect with leading edge scientists, landscape architects, Indigenous knowledge keepers, and climate activists who are explore the application of Indigenous Knowledge on sea-level rise issues with particular focus on Burrard Inlet. By centering climate solutions with Indigenous Knowledge, we can effectively apply both a justice lens and a science lens to this crisis. In this symposium, we will consider local and global impacts of climate change on sea-level rise, explore actions and innovations being taken, understand how Indigenous Knowledge is guiding solutions, and consider landscape architecture alternatives on the site. Public policy on climate change adaptation must include education and orientation to practical local solutions. Hear from a wide range of professionals and academics address sea-level rise here in Coast Salish lands and waters. Speakers will be present in the Nature House.

Video by filmmaker Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos @JaimeJhilmil

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The Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia (WBT) is a non-profit society that manages the Conservation Area at Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver. Our mission is to provide wild birds with sanctuary through ecological protection and restoration, and support communities with education, culture, and reconciliation programs.

We acknowledge that The Conservation Area at Maplewood Flats is situated within the traditional and unceded territory of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN).

https://wildbirdtrust.org
#maplewoodflats #decolonizingconservation #wildbirdsanctuary

COAST SALISH PLANT NURSERY
Our annual fall native plant sale is back!
As the vibrant hues of autumn leaves begin to paint the landscape, gardeners and conservation enthusiasts alike have a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact on our Coast Salish ecosystem. Fall, with its mild temperatures and ample rainfall, emerges as the unparalleled season for planting native plant species. For members of the Wild Bird Trust of BC, this is not just a time to enhance the beauty of our gardens, but a crucial period to foster biodiversity and support our feathered friends (and their neighbours).
WHEN
September 14-October 27;
Saturday & Sunday:
11 AM - 3 PM
WHERE
Coast Salish Plant Nursery, Maplewood Flats 2649 Dollarton Highway, North Vancouver / Tsleil-Waututh Territory

Angelina Hopkins Rose is a Researcher in Residence with the Wild Bird Trust of BC. She addresses threats to traditional plant gathering practices of Interior Salish and Coastal Salish First Nations People, due to BC Timber Sales pursuing a Glyphosate-based Pest Management Plan. Her research and advocacy have contributed to the resurgence of awareness about the importance of traditional foods and medicines, as well as confronting the lack of self-determination local First Nations have in their own lands. Angelina and her partner Ronnie Dean Harris will be highlighting the importance of access to traditional plants.

Angelina is a mother, language learner, and berry picker. She is St'at'imc and Finnish.

Opening comments from Irwin Oostindie, President, Wild Bird Trust of BC on the organisation's efforts towards decolonizing conservation.

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The Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia (WBT) is a non-profit society that manages the Conservation Area at Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver. Our mission is to provide wild birds with sanctuary through ecological protection and restoration, and support communities with education, culture, and reconciliation programs.

We acknowledge that The Conservation Area at Maplewood Flats is situated within the traditional and unceded territory of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN).

https://wildbirdtrust.org
#maplewoodflats #decolonizingconservation

Join us as we deep dive into the world of decolonization. Through public education, we are uplifting the knowledge of the ecosystem and insight into Coast Salish connection to the land.

In the Coast Salish Plant Exhibition, you are able to see beautiful items on display made with native and invasive plant materials created by Tsawaysia Spakwus Alice Guss, Nicole Preissl and Erica Mulder. In this conversation hosted by Senaqwila Wyss, you will hear about the methods used to identify, source, remove, handle and create items from these plant materials - and the broader context of access, and the cultural and ecological value of these plants. There will be a discussion not only on ethical foraging or sourcing but also on the importance of community gardening spaces, to lessen our impact on the ecosystem.

The speakers will provide short demos of their process, of handling and using these materials.

Following the presentations, we will go for a short walk and look at some of the different plants that also appear in the displays on site.

Our guest speakers include:

Tsawaysia Spakwus Alice Guss

Alice specializes in Language and Culture and provided innovative learning opportunities for students. Her English name is known as Alice Guss, she is a Squamish First Nation member that is strong, committed and active in the preservation of their language/culture and heritage. Her father, Pekultn was a Hereditary Chief from Vancouver, BC, Canada. Alice has over 20 years in Education; including Director Of Education, five years as an Employment Coordinator and 15 years delivering Sacred Drum-making workshops. Alice is masterful at bringing innovative learning opportunities to all people through workshops, drumming, singing, dancing and storytelling.

Nicole Preissl

Nicole was born and raised in Burnaby, and is Sto:lo from Leq’a:mel first nation. Her great-grandmother was Squamish from X̱wemelch’stn and great-grandfather from Katzie. Nicole began experimenting with the implementation of culture into design when she began at Emily Carr University and has looked at ways of indigenizing design creation and teaching. She began introducing traditional artistic customs into her practice as a means of connecting to her culture. In her art practice, she uses natural fibres and materials to create textile-based designs. Nicole is Indigenous Education Programmer at Burnaby Village Museum.

Erica Mulder

Erica is a European settler who grew up in Burnaby. Since the beginning of the pandemic, she's been exploring her relationship and responsibility with invasive plants. As a settler, she is continuously working to understand the ways invasive plants can perpetuate and exacerbate the threats to native plants. As well as the ways these plants are vilified to obscure the larger and underlying issues of resource extraction, settler colonialism and climate chaos. In tangent with invasive plant removal work, she's been exploring uses for these plants including basketry, cordage, natural dyeing and more.

Event Host Senaqwila Wyss

Senaqwila Wyss is Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), Tsimshian, Sto:lo, Hawaiian and Swiss. She holds a Bachelors of the Arts Degree in the faculty of Communications, Arts and Technology, minor in First Nations Studies. She also holds a First Nations Languages Proficiency Certificate and Diploma in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim. Senaqwila is the Coast Salish Programs Coordinator at Maplewood Flats.

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Our work is made possible with the support of our members, volunteers, social enterprise revenues (nature house rentals and nursery sales), donors and funders – through their time, care, contributions, and grants.