Great Bear Rainforest, Photography and Research.

The regular monthly meeting of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society will be held September 21, 2008, at 7:00 pm at the Florence Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton Avenue, Courtenay. The featured speaker will be Mr. S. Williamson, and will cover his work and photography with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and Pacific Wild.

Conservationist and photographer Steve Williamson has been interested in photography for several years, but only with finding the unique wildlife and scenery of BC have his dreams been fulfilled. Steve's photographs have appeared in a number of newspapers, have been used on websites, in promotional videos, public slideshow presentations by national organisations and have been stored in governmental and scientific databases for recognition and prosperity storage.

For a number of months in 2007 and 2008 Steve worked with Raincoast Conservation Foundation as a Marine Mammal Observer and Data Research Assistant and then with the Pacific Wild organization as a technician, collecting vital data from the coastal region of the Great Bear Rainforest. It is hoped this work and data will help to preserve this delicate ecosystem for generations to come. Whilst conducting this work, Steve also managed to assemble a unique collection of photographs from the raincoast shores and surrounding seas. It is these images and his recent conservation work that Steve will be talking about. Please come and join us to become better informed about the Great Bear Rainforest, and how you can help promote conservation in British Columbia.

Meetings of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society are held on the third Sunday of most months at the Florence Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton, Courtenay. Meetings are open to the public, including youth. A donation of $2.00 is suggested for non-members, and new memberships are always welcomed. Meetings are not held in July, August, and December. The CVNS October presentation (one week later than usual) will be: October 26, 2008, a presentation on "The Vancouver Island Marmot", November 16 presentation will be Chris Czajkowski, and her new beautifully illustrated Journal "A Mountain Year".

Please come out and join us for these important environmental topics. For more information on CVNS please visit the website at www.comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca.