| “Places like this are very important for preserving nature.” | | “Places like this are very important for preserving nature.” | <div class="ExternalClassF0F2D6D683DD423D97519D786434522D"><p>Him: We're just visiting from Richmond, it's our first time here. I just have my day off, so I checked to see where we can go for a short trip. And so we found, oh, there's Bowen Island. </p><p>She (middle): This is my mother, visiting from Hong Kong.</p><p>Him: I think places like this are very important for preserving nature. And like, for us, then we can enjoy these beautiful, beautiful parks.<br></p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-1.jpg, “Places like this are very important for preserving nature.”
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-1.jpg | |
| “It's passing down through the generations.” | | “It's passing down through the generations.” | <div class="ExternalClass7D0FAF447600438D868B5046FF419EC7"><p>Mom (left): We like to go on walks. When the kids were little, we would have up to 15 parents and strollers on these wide, flat trails. We like to observe wildlife. There's a really cool owl's nest over on that side of the park that we watch sometimes.</p><p>Girl (left): I know that nest. It's high up in the tree.</p><p>Mom (left): Then there's the equestrian ring. The girls like to run around in there and pretend like they're horses.</p><p>Girl (right): I usually like playing the animal games. We turn into new kind of animals. Sometimes we're a unicorn, sometimes a fox.</p><p>Mom (right): It's the park where I played with my parents when I was little. So it's passing down through the generations which is amazing and my daughter gets to use it with her cousin and her aunt and me! </p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-2.jpg, “It's passing down through the generations.”
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-2.jpg | |
| “This park is full of trails that are horse accessible.” | | “This park is full of trails that are horse accessible.” | <div class="ExternalClass2BD3EE4FD4224094BE43D7619FDDAED8"><p>Her (middle): “I’m the President of the Bowen Island Horse Owners and Riders Association, and we have built this riding ring in Crippen Regional Park. So this riding ring is actually the key asset for BIHORA. It allows us to hold events for our members or off island horse owners and riders. But also we can engage with the Bowen public. This riding ring provides our only venue to do so because Bowen's very hilly. And so flat space that's large enough for this kind of ring is at a premium. It also does provide some non-muddy all year round play surface for the schools and daycare in the area as well. We are fundraising to renovate this riding ring because without it, we aren't able to hold events.<br> This park is full of trails that are horse accessible and the trails are well maintained and are safe for horses and that's really important."<br></p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-3.jpg, “This park is full of trails that are horse accessible.”
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-3.jpg | |
| “Education on the importance of wild salmon starts with children.” | | “Education on the importance of wild salmon starts with children.” | <div class="ExternalClass8B579A76957744BE88F22D91CB8C4579"><p>"About 12 years I've been involved as a director and volunteer with the Bowen Island Fish and Wildlife Club. We have a hatchery here in Crippen Regional Park, near Terminal Creek, which is probably the largest salmon-bearing creek on Bowen Island. We raise salmon at the hatchery, 100,000 chum eggs a year and in terms of coho, we raise and release 10,000 coho fry into freshwater creeks onto Bowen Island.
<br>Education on the importance of wild salmon starts with children, really. Fisheries and Oceans Canada have a program called Salmonids in The Classroom. And every year we assist FO in providing salmon eggs to the school, and they raise them to fry in an aquarium. It's mainly kindergarten to grade three, and they learn about the life cycle of salmon.<br> What it all means to me is the opportunity of volunteerism, giving something back, working with the community, and really focusing on something important like salmon and nature."<br></p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-4.jpg, “Education on the importance of wild salmon starts with children.”
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-4.jpg | |
| “I've always been a volunteer since I was a kid growing up here on Bowen Island.” | | “I've always been a volunteer since I was a kid growing up here on Bowen Island.” | <div class="ExternalClass4548155F252F4DE5BEE799B13153410C"><p>"This is Davies Orchard, a heritage orchard in Crippen Regional Park, Nex̱wlélex̱wem, Bowen Island. I'm the community school coordinator, and part of my work involves community connections. Then as a volunteer in this park, it sort of mirrors my work. I've always been a volunteer since I was a kid growing up here on Bowen Island. I came to this park as a child for picnics with my grandparents, and now I get to come here with my niece and nephews and create memories here.
<br>The orchard was planted in 1887, so it has heritage fruit trees. There are varieties that you can't find in a grocery store. The teachers love bringing students down here, so they can understand the history from the precolonial settlement up to current day and how the island has changed over the centuries. Then the students can admire that they're eating a fruit from a tree that's over a century old. How often do you get to do that?" <br></p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-5.jpg, “I've always been a volunteer since I was a kid growing up here on Bowen Island.”
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-5.jpg | |
| “It’s very peaceful, relaxing and scenic here.” | | “It’s very peaceful, relaxing and scenic here.” | <div class="ExternalClass57706095CDF84E8B87F2CEFF85F4DC6B"><p>Family (left): We live in Vancouver. We’re here for the day with our friends. We all wanted to see Bowen Island.</p><p>Dad (right): We’re visiting from Oxford, England. It’s the first time to Canada for my wife and children. It’s very peaceful, relaxing and scenic here. </p><p>Various family members: I saw an otter! There it is! It’s climbing up on the riverbank! </p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-6.jpg, “It’s very peaceful, relaxing and scenic here.”
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-crippen-6.jpg | |