Forest Education

The Creston Community Forest enjoys providing educational opportunities for the community. Often this is done in the form of field trips for school groups, including both primary and high school students. We have two annual trips: World Environment Day and National Forest Week.

Field Trips

World Environment Day is held annually on July 5th, and serves as an important day to recognize and appreciate the natural world. This field trip involves a talk on climate change – focusing on what we can do as individuals to help reduce our impact on the planet. The activities change yearly, however in 2019, the students participated in a nature scavenger hunt, learnt how to plant their own trees, as well as develop weaving skills using various tree roots.

Each September, the Grade 5 students of the Creston Valley participate in a field trip for National Forest Week. This field trip held by the community forest provides students with the opportunity to learn about forest ecology and the forest industry. The community forest sees approximately 80-150 students in attendance. The students participate in activities such as a biodiversity hike, wildfire protection strategies, a compassing workshop, wood cookie painting and tree identification.

The biodiversity hike aims to help students understand the importance of biodiversity within a forest ecosystem. This hike features a creek crossing, a wide variety of under-story plants, as well as big, old cedar shells to stand in. The wildfire protection station allows students to get hands-on experience in fighting a wildfire. The students use tools and equipment to put out a fire. The compassing workshop shows students the importance of mapping in the forest industry, allowing them to locate where they are and how they would get to their final destination. The wood cookie painting gives students an opportunity to get creative and paint a scene showing why forests are important to them. Lastly, the tree identification station allows students to learn about the different tree species in our area and how to differentiate them from one another. The day also includes a hotdog lunch!

Summer Students

Each summer, the community forest hires two summer students for field work. These positions prioritize experience and learning surrounding forest technician work, as well as various summer projects. This summer (2019), the community forest has hired two summer students who have been busy gaining experience in silviculture surveys, block layout, timber cruising, and much more. They have also been involved in projects such as trail building.

For more information on forest education, email Daniel Gratton at:
dgratton@crestoncommunityforest.com
or call 250-402-0070

Our Registered Forest Technician, Kelsey, showing the Grade 4’s and 5’s how to identify various tree cones for the 2017 National Forest Week’s scavenger hunt.