The Osoyoos Desert Centre will officially reopen Saturday, June 6 at 10 a.m.
The centre is a 67-acre nature interpretive facility where visitors can learn about desert ecology, habitat restoration and conservation of endangered ecosystems in the South Okanagan.
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Visitors are invited to get outdoors and take in the rare antelope-brush habitat unique to the South Okanagan.
One of the centre’s features is a 1.5 km boardwalk that meanders through the antelope-brush habitat offering an elevated view of the plant and animal life that exists there including Spadefoots, Behr’s Hairstreak butterflies, Nuttall’s Cottontail, Western Bluebirds and antelope-brush, several species of sage and the prickly pear cactus.
“The past few months have been really challenging times for everyone,” said Osoyoos Desert Society’s managing director Jayme Friedt. “I’ve heard over and over again how important nature is to people, how re-energizing it is, and how mentally and spiritually uplifting it is. We are so happy we can provide a venue for people to immerse themselves in nature and experience our spectacular natural spaces.”
In order to protect the well-being of visitors, volunteers and staff, the Desert Centre says they will be adhering to WorkSafeBC safety protocols.
Those protocols include making hand sanitizer available, enhanced cleaning measures, adding a protective shield at the admissions desk, limiting the number of visitors in the interpretive building and on the boardwalk at any one time and encouraging social distancing.
“We are very excited about the prospect of being part of people’s stay-cation plans this year. The health and well-being of everyone visiting or working at the Desert Centre is top of mind,” said Friedt. “We ask that everyone please exercise common sense, best-practices and keep our communities safe.”
The Desert Centre is currently open Wednesday to Sunday from to 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information visit desert.org.
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