Annual Maynely Mushrooms Event
Planning is in the works for “Maynely Mushrooms,” one of the Conservancy’s long-standing annual events. This year’s event will be held the weekend of November 14th.
Featured Speaker and Mushroom Walk Guide
With 2026 being the year of the Coastal Douglas Fir Bioecological Zone, we have invited research sceientist Dr. Shannon Berch to join us this year. Dr. Berch’s research highlights the critical role of soil biology, mycorrhizal networks, and fungal diversity in maintaining the health and resilience of British Columbia’s rarest forest type: the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) ecosystem.
As highlighted in an article published by Raincoast Conservation Foundation in 2023, the CDF zone is Canada’s smallest and most biodiverse biogeoclimatic zone, but its fungal communities have historically been poorly understood. Dr. Berch’s recent work aims to change this by uncovering hidden species (her research collaborative efforts such as surveys on Observatory Hill near Victoria have cataloged over 1,166 species of fungi in local CDF patches), her work indicates that the CDF zone contains many undocumented and likely endemic fungal species that do not exist anywhere else, making habitat conservation critical before these unique evolutionary legacies are lost to development. Shannon will share her finding with us a presentation on Saturday evening, and a limited number of participants will have the opportunity to see the forest and its mycological wonders through her eyes on a guided walk.
Be sure to watch for a schedule of events and ticket info on the Upcoming Events page, and in the next issue of the Oystercatcher.
Do You Know Your Mushrooms?
We will be looking for volunteers who have skills in mushroom identification to participate in the schedule of events. Please reach out by sending an email to admin@Mayneconservancy.ca.
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