Why Volunteer with the SCCA?
Your contribution as a volunteer can help ensure the survival of biodiversity on the Sunshine Coast. By volunteering with the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association (SCCA), you can assist in conserving land and marine areas from Howe Sound to Bute Inlet.
Join a community of conservation advocates who, like you, care about preserving our precious species, natural landscapes, and ocean environments.
Get to know our fantastic volunteers: learn about what they do, why they do it, and the rewards and benefits of their experiences.
Read on to discover our current volunteer opportunities.
Meet our Volunteers
Meet our Volunteer – Maggie Kalve-Guzzi
There’s something special about volunteering that transforms both the volunteer and the community. For over a decade, the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association (SCCA) has been fortunate to have dedicated volunteers like Maggie Kalve-Guzzi, whose warmth and enthusiasm have helped shape our conservation efforts. Whether engaging with visitors at community events or participating in hands-on environmental […]
Ocean Festival Gratitude đ
The 2025 Sunshine Coast Ocean Festival was a true community celebration â a week of ocean storytelling, learning, and connection made possible by an extraordinary collective effort. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the dozens of contributors who brought the 2025 Festival to life: Our talented film festival programmer, website designer, and graphic artist, Billie […]
Under Our Feet and In Our Forests – BioBlitz 2025
This November, the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association (SCCA) is teaming up with the Loon Foundation for the annual Sunshine Coast BioBlitz; a week-long celebration of biodiversity and citizen science. From forests to foreshore, this event invites the community to explore, observe, and connect with the extraordinary ecosystems that make the Sunshine Coast so unique. Event […]
Current Volunteer Opportunities
Events Support
We host annual events you may have already attended, such as the Sunshine Coast Ocean Festival or a candidates' meeting during election cycles. You may also have visited the SCCA booth at community events like Earth Day, Syiyaya Days or a Labour Day Picnic.
- These events provide a wonderful opportunity to meet like-minded people who share your passion for conservation and biodiversity while also helping to recruit new members and volunteers.
- The time commitment is minimalâyou can volunteer for just an hour or stay for the entire event, which typically lasts about three hours. This is a great chance to connect with others in your community and demonstrate how important conservation is to you and the SCCA. Youâll be showcasing our successes!
- You do not need to be an expert in all aspects of SCCAâs work. The key is to show your passion for conservation and your support for our initiatives and to be ready to share that with others. Your involvement can help us expand our network of supporters.
- If youâd like, we offer volunteers a brief orientation session that outlines some of our successful projects so that you can become more familiar with our work. Feel free to bring a friend to the orientation or to join us at an event!
To sign up as a volunteer, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page or email volunteer@thescca.ca for more information.
Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities
The articles below each mention opportunities to engage in volunteer work with the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association in the coming month. Come collaborate with us on the important work for preserving biodiversity on the Sunshine Coast for future generations!
Free NEMO Talk: Cetaceans of the Salish Sea – A deeper dive into their lives. (Online)
Join Gary Sutton, Research Technician, from the Whales Initiative Body Condition Research Program in his presentation on the natural history of cetaceans in the Salish Sea and the ongoing research projects.Â
Free NEMO Talk: Forage Fish & the Chinook Salmon Connection (Online)
Fish diet studies can help us understand changes in marine ecosystems. Will Duguid (UVic and PSF) will provide an introduction to key prey of Chinook and Coho salmon and discuss what salmon diets are teaching us about the food web that supports our salmon and the species that rely on them. He will also present new insights on the migration ecology of Pacific Herring and introduce current and upcoming research programs.
Free NEMO Talk: Eelgrass and Beyond – Protecting Resilient Estuaries on the Sunshine Coast (Online)
For the last two decades, SeaChange has worked with communities surrounding the Salish Sea to conserve, restore, and protect nearshore marine areas, so vital as nurseries for salmon and all life they depend upon. Join Nikki Wright as she talks about some of the activities planned by Sea Change, including work in the Sechelt Inlet.
Free NEMO Talk: Tracking Dungeness Crab across the Salish Sea
Driven by communities and led by the Hakai Institute, Sentinels of Change is a decade-long project that uses light traps to investigate the ecology and dynamics of a critically important species in our inland sea: Dungeness crab. Join us to hear about our findings so far and how important community science is in our efforts to understand ecosystems and environmental change.
Free Hands-On Demonstration with Sunshine Coast Friends of Forage Fish
Come out to the beach at Friendship Park, Trail Bay, and learn about who forage fish are, and why they are important. Then weâll get into a demonstration of the sampling process used by citizen scientists all along the Salish Sea to determine where these important little fish are choosing to spawn. Bring your gumboots and curiosity for this hands-on demonstration.
Free Film Screening: Uncharted Waters (Roberts Creek Community Hall)
Four young people with diverse connections to Howe Sound/Â Ătlâka7tsem confront an uncertain future. United by an innovative, community-led mapping project, can they work together to protect their home? (Followed by a presentation and discussion by the Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative Society.)
Free Herring Curtain Demonstration (Mission Park, Davis Bay)
We will demonstrate the construction of a herring curtain and explain why such curtains are important to the Pacific Herring. There will be extra materials on hand for participants to help make a herring curtain, and these will be stored for usage next spring during spawning season. Making a herring curtain is easy, itâs quick and itâs important for the survival and revival of the pacific herring species!
Free NEMO Talk: Generation Restoration – feeding hope and resilience back into kelp forests and the community (Online)
Salish Sea kelp ecosystems are among the most vital and most threatened ecosystems in Canadian waters. Kelp forests are foundational and provide critical habitat and food for diverse species, including commercially, recreationally, and culturally valuable species. Kelp also provides vital ecosystem services, stabilizing shorelines, filtering water, mitigating storm surges, and capturing large quantities of carbon, helping to mitigate climate change and counteract ocean acidification. Join Lee-Ann Ennis as she tells her inspiring story of cultivating kelp for fish habitat and restoration projects.
Virtual Event: United Nations World Oceans Day 2023 Live Broadcas
ORGANIZER MESSAGE Registering for the VIRTUAL BROADCAST of the 2023 United Nations World Oceans Day event which will be live streamed on UN TV on Thursday 8 June, 2023! For more information about this celebration, and others surrounding World Oceans Day, please visit www.UNWorldOceansDay.org or follow the event on Instagram @unworldoceansday. Registration Terms â *The […]