The club supports and participates in a number of special projects
Monitoring Western Grebe nesting in
Salmon Arm bay
For
more than 20 years club members have monitored and
recorded nesting data from several places in the bay. The recording of events and grebe populations
continues from April to August with counts conducted every second week from
mid-May to mid-July when the nesting results are observed and tallied as well.There are now usually fewer than 100 pairs nesting in BC, most of which nest in the bay. The
shrinkage of wetlands throughout the province demands that the club
remains very vigilant in protecting this habitat. More information on the Western Grebe.
 Peter Jannink
Nature Park
The area now called
Peter Jannink Nature Park began as a city lot which was overgrown with weeds
and had been used as a landfill dump. Peter was the head city gardener
who had an infectious passion for bird watching and
was a valued and beloved club
member. On the initiative of the Shuswap Naturalist
Club
the area was converted to a city park in 1999. Its location on the
marshy shore of the lake makes it a wonderful area for birdwatching.
The park was named in Peter's honour after his passing in
2003.
The Shuswap Naturalists continue
to plant indigenous plants and, along with the efforts of the city, are
working towards making the Nature Park a truly interpretive park. The
park is being maintained through the efforts of the club with
the
generous support of the Rotary Club of Salmon Arm.
Academic award
In
2006 the club established a scholarship for a university student
studying in
the area of environmental sciences and planning to pursue a career in
environmental conservation and protection. The Shuswap
Naturalist
Club Award is now available to students at Thompson Rivers
University entering the third year of the Bachelor of Natural
Resource Science program. Priority is given to
students from the Shuswap area. See information on the latest award recipient.
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