The Richmond Nature Park is a bog-forest nature park located in the city of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. The Richmond Nature Park covers 200 acres of the raised

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

habitat that has previously covered large sections of

Lulu Island Lulu Island is the name of the largest island in the estuary of the Fraser River, located south of Vancouver, British Columbia, and the second-most populous island in British Columbia, after Vancouver Island. The city of Richmond occupies most ...

. The ever-changing environment of the Richmond Nature Park is also dominated by a wet, spongy land of

mosses Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and horn ...

(specifically

sphagnum moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...

heath shrubs A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

, and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

-like trees. The park offers four walking trails that allows visitors to walk amongst the peat bog, the forest, and the pond habitat, and the opportunity to explore the wildlife of the plants and animals within the bog-forest. The Richmond Nature Park Society works on behalf of the Richmond Nature Park as a non-for-profit organization that aims in providing natural history education opportunities for visitors and residents, and through programs and events that promote the natural history of the nature park.

History

1960s: In 1962, the Corporation of the Township of Richmond decided to purchase 217 acres of land from the federal Department of Transport. However, the land did not come fully into use until the year of 1968 when Will Paulik, Secretary of the Richmond Rod and Gun Club, claimed that the acres should be used as a nature region and from then on the park began to shape

outdoor activities Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activiti ...

, there by establishing the land as a park. 1970s: During the 1970s, the beautiful nature park had a lot of success and significant moments. For instance, their first committee meeting took place in 1971. In 1972 the park was officially named and they were endowed Local Ascendancy Grants in order to help and support a number of their future projects that they had forthcoming. 1976 was a significant year because the Nature House was opened to the public, and in the following year, the name of the committee was officially changed to the Richmond Nature Park Society. 1980s: In the 1980s, the park's main goal was to build future ideas and to develop the park even more. There were a lot of projects that took place successfully, such as constructing a boardwalk primarily for disabled people, providing them with their own personal trail that gave them access around the pond. The park's nature exhibits were also updated. Some other projects were the Bog Ecology Protection Zone, the trail guides, and time trails. Through the years of 1987-1989, the park took part in technological advancement, such as their first computer and video camera for the surveillance of the park and to support their office work research for the nature house. 1990s: In 1995, a winter outreach program that was directed for schools was developed, known as "Wilderness on Wheels"; however, the name of the program was later changed to "Natural Indoors". In the year of 1997, the park proudly celebrated its 25th anniversary. 2000s: In the year 2002, the 30th Anniversary of the City of Richmond took place. It was during this year that the park was officially appointed and identified as the Richmond Nature Park, and up to this day the park continues to flourish.

Richmond Nature House

The Richmond Nature House in Richmond Nature Park is an interpretive centre for visitors to learn more about the park through interactive displays, games, and resources. The Nature House also offers a gift shop, trail guide information, and exhibits including an active beehive and a reptile show, and a collection of live animals to educate visitors about the bog. Admission into the Nature House is by donation.

Activities

Based on the many resources that is offered by the park, this allows visitors to engage in a variety of recreational and educational activities for all ages. Visitors of the park can participate in hiking and walking along the four available park trails, which are also handicap and stroller accessible. Birdwatching, photography, and sightseeing is also available to explore in the park's natural scenery, giving visitors the ability to encounter plants and animals in the bog, forest, and pond habitats. Other amenities located in the park include the outdoor picnic area including picnic tables, washrooms, a playground area, and available parking. However, food services within the park are not available. The four main trails in the Richmond Nature Park include: Bog Forest Trail (1.8 km), Quaking Trail (1.6 km), Time trail (0.83 km) and Pond Trail (0.35 km).

Ecology

Lulu Island Bog

The Lulu Island Bog which once covered a large portion of

, is now a large remaining fragment that makes up Richmond Nature Park in the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

Delta. This ecosystem has been disrupted significantly by changes in drainage and reduction in size, but it has kept in good shape as a raised

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

. The development of Lulu Island Bog has led to significant changes in the bogs ecosystem over the course of the years, especially as a result of urban and

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

use of the land. Dominated by large

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

levels, the study of this ecosystem structure is focused on the "raised or domed centre" of the bog which "causes water to drain from the centre radically outwards". The Lulu Island Bog is characterized by their

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

, acidic (low pH) growing conditions, and with a minimal water flow into the bog. The ecology of the bog is made up of the moss known as sphagnum, which develops under an acidic, “cool, wet climatic conditions”, and this moss type plays an important role in the development of a bog. The development of sphagnum moss takes place in areas where the rainwater accumulates. However, the plants in the bog receive very little - and sometimes even no - waterborne nutrients. Due to the lack of waterborne nutrients, various resilient plants live amongst the sphagnum moss that are able to tolerate full on cool, acidic peat bog soils. One of the plant features of this bog are the

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryot ...

s. These plants counteract the lack of nutrients in the soil by entrapping and consuming small insects, such as the round-leafed sundew,

pitcher plant Pitcher plants are several different carnivorous plants which have modified leaves known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of what are considered to be "true" pitcher p ...

s, and bladderworts. This bog is predominantly taken over by the "flowering plants"

, including Labrador tea,

bog rosemary ''Andromeda polifolia'', common name bog-rosemary, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only member of the genus ''Andromeda'', and is only found in bogs in ...

, western bog laurel, bog blueberry and bog cranberry. As a result of the drainage impact and the drying of the bog, the Lulu Island Bog is also dominated by a few invasive species, including the European birch, highbush blueberry, American cranberry, and

Scotch heather Scotch most commonly refers to: * Scotch (adjective), a largely obsolescent adjective meaning "of or from Scotland" **Scotch, old-fashioned name for the indigenous languages of the Scottish people: ***Scots language ("Broad Scotch") *** Scottish ...

. The Shore Pine tree is a tree characteristic of the bog-forest park, having the ability to tolerate the poor soils and distinguished by its "stunted or spindly appearance".

Wildlife in the area

Over 100 species reside in the Richmond Nature Park. Amongst the species that live in the nature park, there are at least 13

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s including

shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fa ...

s, the douglas squirrel,

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

, coyotes, and

black tailed deer Two forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer that occupy coastal woodlands in the Pacific Northwest of North America are subspecies of the mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''). They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all r ...

. Migratory birds have also been seen to be living in the park, including a variety of owl species,

hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

s, and many more. Many of the bird species are considered to be "year-round residents", while other bird species are "found seasonally or during migration only". Over the past few decades since the park has been established, the numbers and diversity of the birds have changed with time as the bog-forest has developed and expanded, but there has been especially fewer

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

compared to what was there during the 1970s Other species in the nature park include 2 types of garter snakes and several

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

species.

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

species are also frequently present in the park, with a great diversity of colourful

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and dragonflies that fly around the pond during the spring and summer seasons.

Directions

The main entrance into Richmond Nature Park is through Westminster Highway, just next to No. 5 road in east Richmond. The city of Richmond is located south from the city of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and nearby

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located from Downtown Vancouver. It is the second busiest ...

. The nature park is approximately a 30-minute drive from Downtown Vancouver and it is accessible via

Highway 99 International * European route E99 Australia * Springbrook Road, Queensland Canada * British Columbia Highway 99 * Ontario Highway 99 (former) * Saskatchewan Highway 99 China * G99 Expressway India * National Highway 99 (India) ...

moving into Richmond. Exact address and directions into Richmond Nature Park: 11851 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC.

References

{{reflist Nature centres in British Columbia Parks in Greater Vancouver Richmond, British Columbia