Curious about the
Cowichan Estuary Restoration Project?
Visit their website at estuaryresilience.ca
Click: UN salutes BC group for coastal estuary protection efforts
Come visit us
Sat/Sun & Statutory Holidays 1-3pm
As a volunteer-run Nature Centre we take the health and well being of our volunteers and guests to heart. We do our best offer a safe place for our volunteers and visitors. While we are no longer requiring masks in the Centre, we have masks available for visitors for your comfort and safety and run a HEPA filter. Come visit us and explore nature and science indoors during our weekend and holiday open hours, and come by to explore the beach, our nature interpretive trail along the estuary’s shoreline, and our wildlife viewing platform outdoors anytime.
About the Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre
Located overlooking the Cowichan Estuary in beautiful Hecate Park at the west end of Cowichan Bay Village, the Nature Centre offers opportunities for visitors of all ages to learn about the estuary, the bay, and the watershed through informative interactive exhibits and fun hands-on activities. Find out more about the Nature Centre and the Cowichan estuary, its watersheds and the creatures who call it home here.
School programs at the Centre, as well as interpretive programs for other groups can be booked at any available time. We also offer weekly summer nature and science camps in July and August and throughout the year host films, special events, and offer facility rentals.
Volunteering… Are you interested in volunteering with us? If you love nature and the intertidal area of the estuary, the Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre offers meaningful volunteer opportunities for adults and youth as nature interpreters during Nature Centre open hours for the public, or as education program assistants. We’d love to be able to be open for more hours on the weekends. Volunteers also can participate in citizen science projects like monthly bird counts, or hands-on ecosystem restoration projects, and help with maintaining displays and equipment, building maintenance, fundraising and many other activities. Volunteers are key to the Centre’s ability to make a positive impact locally, and we also have fun together. More info here.
We’ll soon be in the midst of another wonderful Nature and Science Summer Camp Season with an amazing group of five to nine-year-old participants exploring the wonders of the Cowichan Estuary with us! Registrations are starting soon for our July and August 2024 Summer Camps!
If you are a teacher or homeschooler, you can also get in touch about our hands-on science and nature-inspired school programs for all grades and ages – kindergarten through high school – at the Nature Centre, on the beach and exploring and learning at natural sites throughout the lower Cowichan and Koksilah watersheds. Contact admin@cowichanestuary.ca to book a program for your class.
Check out the Great Blue Herons in Wessex Ravine
Our Heron Cam is Live!
With 200+ Pacific Great Blue Herons spending nesting season and now raising their young ones in Wessex Ravine Heron Colony it’s a lively and often noisy place. Visit our Live Heron Cam and zoom around the heronry and have a look.
Please follow us on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter where we’re sharing nature stories and activities.
We would like to Thank RBS Managed Services for their generous donation for the purchase of two versions of ‘The Watershed Game’. This game will be integrated into our current and future education programs as well as within our community. Huy ch q’u!