The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) has a very full summer calendar for 2026.
Their events program started Monday June 28 with Misty Isles, and the Secret Shelf Exploration. Executive Director Helen Hall recently explained, “That’s a guided visit to a really amazing intertidal area off southern Cortes. People will get the chance to explore by snorkel and learn all about the marine environment there.” It was fully booked, and unfortunately, those who might have liked to go along have now missed the opportunity.
Upcoming Events
Helen Hall continued, “We’ve got a Moss Magic event next Saturday, July the 4th with Dan Tucker, a local expert on mosses. He’s going to be teaching people about the hidden world of mosses, liverworts, and lichens.”
“Later in July, we probably have our most popular event, Gumbooting the Lagoon. That’s a low tide walk at Manson’s Lagoon, searching for marine life. We do that in partnership with the museum. So Melanie Boyle our local history buff will talk to people about the history of that area.”
“We’re trying to do some different events this summer – ones we haven’t done before. On the 15th of August, we have Moths by Moonlight.That will be a moth trapping event. You use a light trap to attract the moths and egg cartons to collect them, then you can look at what you find and learn all about moths. We’re doing this with Dan Tucker and a moth expert called Abby Hyde. All the moths are released—it doesn’t harm them at all.”
“Our final event is called Brilliant Beavers. Autumn Barrett-Morgan will teach people about beavers—how they design wetlands and create healthy ecosystems—and also how we can learn to live alongside them.”
“So we’ve got a really lovely range of events, and it gives people a chance to learn more about the natural environment here—along with the plants and animals that live alongside us.”
The Big Beach Clean-up
Cortes Currents: I understand you’ve also got quite a few projects on the go.
Helen Hall: “We’ve just finished our third annual Big Beach Clean-Up, a project we run in partnership with Klahoose Aquaculture and Comox Strathcona Waste Management. It’s sponsored by the Ocean Legacy Foundation and by 10,000 Whales.”
“During May, we put out super sacks around the island at many beach access points and encourage people to collect garbage from the beaches and put it into the super sacks. Then in June, we collect the garbage bags, sortthem for recycling, and process it.”
“On top of what we did with the community, Klahoose also had additional funding to clean up the beaches by boat. They’ve been out over the last few months doing additional work too. Altogether, we collected 2,570 kilograms of garbage—which is equivalent to about two and a half big blue bins like the ones at the recycling centre.”
“That’s pretty astonishing, and it means the beaches are currently in pretty good shape. We’re very pleased with that, and we’ll be doing it again next year.”
Projects with the Cortes Island School
We’ve been working with the Cortes Island School on some really fun and creative projects in the school grounds. The school is looking to be a leader in land-based education and set an example for other schools in BC.”
“In the spring, we did a project on the butterfly pollinator garden in front of the school. We rewove the willow fences around the pollinator meadow with students. As we discovered with the butterfly, using willow is a really good resource for the school—it’s also renewable, so we planted a willow nursery.”
“We’ve also been working on maintaining the amazing green willow dragon in the school grounds—a living willow sculpture children can go inside, to have lessons and do creative activities.”
“Those three school projects have been really fun to work on, and they’ve been genuinely beneficial for the students. We’re looking forward to doing more creative projects in the future.”
Park Maintenance & Infrastructure
“We’ve also been doing a lot of work in the parks. We have a contract with the Strathcona Regional District to maintain most regional parks, including Kw’as, Carrington, Whaletown Commons, Siskin, the Ferry Park, and four beach access points: Moon, Hayes, Gnat, and Seascape. Every month of the year, we go out and maintain the trails in those parks and beach access areas.”
“We’ve also been working on infrastructure projects. From about January to now, we’ve installed new boardwalks in Kw’as Park, built a bridge at the Ferry Park, and restored some really funky outhouses in Carrington. We’re also about to install another bridge into Whaletown Commons.”
“The goal is to make sure the parks are accessible for people—so it’s a mix of maintenance and construction work in the parks.”
Partnership with BC Parks & Conservation Work
“As well as that, we’ve had a partnership with BC Parks for the last seven or eight years. We work with them in Mansons Landing Provincial Park on the Spit.”
“This year, we ran another community broom-bashing event to remove broom from the Spit and help restore the coastal sand ecosystem around it. We return every year to cut back regrowth, and we’re really starting to see results—more native plants are coming in, and the coastal sand ecosystem, which is a very rare grassy habitat, is benefiting as well.”
“Over the years, we’ve also made a number of improvements through the parks enhancement fund. This year, we added split rail fencing toward the end of the Spit to protect the banks and the midden. We also installed new steps right next to the government dock leading down onto the beach.”
“This spring, working in partnership with conservation partners off-island—SeaChange and Project Watershed—and with BC Parks, we did an eelgrass survey in Mansons Landing Provincial Park to measure the extent of the eelgrass beds. We did this also with Klahoose Guardians, the goal was to help us better understand what’s happening with the eelgrass and identify potential restoration projects.”
European Green Crab Trapping
We’re also just about to start working with DFO on European green crab trapping in Mansons Landing Provincial Park. They’re considered the world’s worst invasive species—they can destroy ecosystems, destroy eelgrass beds, and they predate native crabs. They’re very harmful and they’re abundant on the west coast of Vancouver Island.”
“Three years ago, we found three in Manson’s Lagoon, and it was the first time they’d been recorded in the Discovery Islands. That shows how important this work is.”
“DFO returned and we trapped heavily in the lagoon to see if we could find any more. Luckily, we didn’t find any additional crabs, and last year we didn’t find any either. But we do this each year to check.”
“We’re starting again now, and we’ll be doing it over the summer months. We’re also very keen that if anyone sees them, they report them to us, because we really want to get them out of there.”
Volunteers & How to Get Involved
Cortes Currents: What kind of a role do volunteers have at FOCI??
Helen Hall: We have a small number of staff, so it’s really important for us that other people help with environmental monitoring and support our work. We always welcome volunteers.”
“When we did broom-bashing at Manson Spit, we had a large group of volunteers who made a massive difference. Volunteers can also help with green crab trapping.”
“We also have a number of other monitoring programs people can get involved in. And of course, the beach clean-up we just did really depended on local people doing their part—collecting garbage off the beaches.”
“We don’t have the resources ourselves to do all of this, so enabling other people is essential. It means we can get a lot more work done.”
“If anyone is listening and would love to volunteer, please get in touch. You can email us at [email protected].”
Friends of Cortes Island Promotions and Funding
“Summer is probably my favorite time, because we’re out in the community doing a lot of things.”
“We’ll be at the summer markets promoting our work. We’re also producing some really beautiful new FOCI T-shirts. If people want to find out more about us, you’re very welcome to visit us at the markets and on Cortes Day. Our office is also very close to the radio station, so if you’re in Manson’s and want to call in and find out more, we’d love to talk.”
“A large part of my job is also looking for funding to make all these amazing projects happen, and it’s a very challenging financial environment.”
“One of the best ways for us to get funding is through donations, because it gives us unrestricted funding—we can spend it on the projects where we need it most.”
“If anyone is listening and would like to donate to FOCI, you can do it online at www.friendsofcortes.org. Or you can send a cheque to our post office box: PO Box 278, Manson’s Landing, BC B0P 1K0. Any donation—however small—is really appreciated and makes a big difference to us.”
Links of Interest
- Donation page on the FOCI website
- Friends of Cortes Island website
- Friends of Cortes Island Facebook page
- Cortes Island Resonance series
- Articles about, or mentioning, FOCI
Top image credit: The Misty Isles; All undesignated photos courtesy FOCI
Sign-up for Cortes Currents email-out:
To receive an emailed catalogue of articles on Cortes Currents, send a (blank) email to subscribe to your desired frequency:
- Daily, (articles posted during the last 24 hours) – [email protected]
- Weekly Digest cortescurrents – [email protected]