Welcome to the Central Okanagan Naturalists’ Club
About the Central Okanagan Naturalists’ Club (CONC)
CONC is a naturalists’ club based in Kelowna, BC, part of the Central Okanagan. Please note that we are a group interested in birds, botany, cycling, hiking, and snowshoeing (in the appropriate seasons); we are not interested in running around naked.
CONC acknowledges our presence on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded land of the syilx/Okanagan people who have resided here since time immemorial. We recognize, honour, and respect the syilx/Okanagan lands upon which we live, work, and play.
We organize a variety of weekly activities (see calendar below) and hold monthly meetings (see below) featuring a presentation on a topic of interest to the club.
Join us!
Click for a PDF application form! Updated 2024 August 15 with new rates.
Additional membership information is available on the Information for Everyone page.
To participate in our in-person activities, you will be asked to sign an attendance sheet stating you are fully-vaccinated and have not been in recent contact with someone with COVID-19.
Details on the activities are in the calendar below and on pages devoted to each activity.
Next meeting: May 13, 2025 at Evangel Church 7:00 p.m.
Title: Invasive plants and insects in the Okanagan
Presenter: Lisa Scott, OASSIS, Executive Director of The Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society
About the presentation: What they are. How they got here. What we can do about them.
About the presenter: Lisa Scott was born and raised in the Okanagan Valley. She is humbled and grateful to live, work and play within the traditional, unceded territory of the syilx People. Lisa is a Professional Biologist and has worked as a consultant in the fields of invasive species management, environmental assessments and conservation planning for 29 years. She is a strong proponent of holistic management and community-based conservation. Lisa has been the Executive Director of the Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society since its inception in 1996. When not at work, Lisa enjoys hiking, camping, kayaking, snowshoeing and photographing everything along the way.
More details on this and other CONC meetings: Upcoming CONC meetings document.
Upcoming activities
The activities are listed in the calendar above.
Additional information on hikes/snowshoe/bicycle trips is on the Hiking page.
Additional information on birding trips is on the Birding page.
Friday botany trips in the spring (and occasionally in the fall) are described on the Botany page. Note that this information includes places you can visit on your own, along with species lists,
Monthly Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month, September through May, at 7:00 p.m., currently in person whenever possible and otherwise via Zoom, with a picnic in June and a potluck in January.
Latest newsletter
The latest newsletter (Winter 2025) has been published. The newsletter has been extensively redesigned; let the editors know how you like it!
Other CONC activities
Many members participate in local, regional, and provincial bodies whose interests reflect the Club’s interests.
CONC is involved with December/January Christmas Bird Counts, the January Sweagle (swan and eagle) Count, the Johns Family Nature Conservancy Park Critter Count in May and the Okanagan Mountain Park Critter Count in June.
A 2020 activity was the Mission Creek Greenway Biodiversity Challenge organized by CONC in conjunction with the Friends of Mission Creek and Regional District Parks. How many species did naturalists find along the Greenway in 2020? The Challenge iNaturalist website is here.
CONC maintains a checklist of the approximately 8,000 species of fauna, flora, and funga that are confirmed or suspected to occur in the Regional District of the Central Okanagan (RDCO). The Checklist can be found at RDCOChecklist.info; check it out for details on the status of each species and send us any necessary corrections or additions.
A few members, active or retired professionals, produce scientific articles. Details are available on the About Us page.
More CONC information
Please use the menu system at the top of each page and its links to explore our different activities. To ask specific questions, use our info address: contact us.
Contact information:
Specific people on the executive.
The webmaster.
Last updated: 2025 04 09