| “It’s fantastic to see birds and other wildlife that are part of the ecosystem, which needs to be protected and preserved.” | | “It’s fantastic to see birds and other wildlife that are part of the ecosystem, which needs to be protected and preserved.” | <div class="ExternalClassD98075D64D6342FE98F5EC128F44AEDB"><p>“A friend of mine back home in the Philippines introduced me to bird photography, and I quite like it. And so I bought my gear and started about two years ago. I come here maybe two or three times a month. It's really nice, not just for the walk and exercise, but for bird watching also. It’s fantastic to see birds and other wildlife that are part of the ecosystem, which needs to be protected and preserved. I think that we coexist with them, and we need to really help them.”</p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-iona-beach-1.jpg, “It’s fantastic to see birds and other wildlife that are part of the ecosystem, which needs to be protected and preserved.”
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| “Accessibility means a lot.” | | “Accessibility means a lot.” | <div class="ExternalClass47C90E298F1645A38535775F2406653D"><p>“I'm here just to check out this new mat on the beach to see if it's accessible and see how far I can go. In the past we’ve gone along the jetty, which is very accessible. I used my scooter all the way down and back, and I like it. Accessibility means a lot. It makes you feel like you're part of the general public, and that you can go on the beach if you want to, just like anyone else. The washrooms here are accessible but some other park washrooms are not. Some of them have a handrail and call that accessible, but it's not. Also, if there’s gravel in front of the doors and someone in a wheelchair or a scooter is trying to push the door open, plus try to get traction on gravel, that makes it hard.”</p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-iona-beach-2.jpg, “Accessibility means a lot.”
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-iona-beach-2.jpg | |
| “I love watching the snow geese here.” | | “I love watching the snow geese here.” | <div class="ExternalClassEC7F234D654F4CA0B3A5D4F491B53CDC"><p>“I live in West Van and wanted to go for a nice sort of flat ride. Usually Iona Beach is my destination for that. It's about 30 kilometres and it took me about just over an hour and a half. For a cyclist it's nice to have a destination to go to. And Iona is a really nice one. I love watching the snow geese here. I usually try to do a ride in January because I know the snow geese are out. On my ride in, I saw them and stopped to take a few pictures.”</p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-iona-beach-3.jpg, “I love watching the snow geese here.”
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| “I volunteer about 120 to 150 hours a year here.” | | “I volunteer about 120 to 150 hours a year here.” | <div class="ExternalClass07F64797E606476A9B427E2DF983C867"><p>“I think I volunteer about 120 to 150 hours a year here. It all started with me just walking around and cleaning up the beach on my weekend walks. I would pick up glass and things like that. Then through friends, I met someone who works here and they said, well, we could find you things to do. This is the first one I was given. I record the water data. I also do invasive species removal, bat counts and bat tagging, I set up wildlife cameras. I started the Facebook group "Friends of Iona Beach" as I was hoping I could find more people that are interested in helping out and providing some service to the regional parks. I enjoy this province. It’s been 20 years since I've arrived here, but I enjoy it and I thought, maybe I can give back this way.”</p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-iona-beach-4.jpg, “I volunteer about 120 to 150 hours a year here.”
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| “It’s quieter here than some other places.” | | “It’s quieter here than some other places.” | <div class="ExternalClass26E6A112E75A42E69D35F8CD32D53D7E"><p>“We like it here because it’s quieter here than some other places, less people. My boy likes to walk on the sand and explore nature.”<br></p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-iona-beach-5.jpg, “It’s quieter here than some other places.”
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-iona-beach-5.jpg | |
| “One of the things that I love a lot about the regional parks is that they preserve such large areas of land and unique ecosystems.” | | “One of the things that I love a lot about the regional parks is that they preserve such large areas of land and unique ecosystems.” | <div class="ExternalClassE74DBA8ABCAF450B89D44B838EB50B4E"><p>“One of my new year's resolutions last year was that I was going to try and go to all the regional parks in the Metro Vancouver system, revisiting old favourites like Burnaby Lake and then also seeing new places. I have this Regional Parks Passport with the stamps for all the parks. My husband lovingly gave it to me for Christmas. I grew up just a block or two away from Burnaby Lake Regional Park and I spent a lot of time there as a kid. Now I have a volunteer position with the Burnaby Lake Park Association. One of the things that I love a lot about the regional parks is that they preserve such large areas of land and unique ecosystems. And they are accessible to the public and they encourage people to come and engage and learn more about nature.”</p><p>Editor’s note: The Regional Parks Passports were widely distributed as part of the Regional Parks 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary campaign in 2017.<br></p></div> | | https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-iona-beach-6.jpg, “One of the things that I love a lot about the regional parks is that they preserve such large areas of land and unique ecosystems.”
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/PublishingImages/humans-of-regional-parks-iona-beach-6.jpg | |