Get Involved with Friends of Petrie Island
The Friends of Petrie Island volunteers operate the interpretive centre, special events tent and interpretive programs and maintain the trail system in the Grandmaitre Ecological Reserve so that all who visit can enjoy this unique natural gem in the City of Ottawa. Membership funding supports our nature programs, educational literature and displays and the work of the Friends of Petrie Island and also provides discounts so that you can get the most out of your visits.
There are a number of ways you can get involved. We can use more hands to get the labor-intensive maintenance and improvement work done, and we can use volunteers for the native wildflower garden wildscaping project or natural history interpretation/walks. Each spring there are weekend clean-ups after the floods.
Many visitors help out by picking up garbage on the trails as they walk and dropping it in the trash bins at every trailhead. Make it a family project! Garbage bags are available at the interpretive centre. Our volunteers check the trails regularly, but if you see any dangerous trees or excessive garbage, please report those to the interpretive center.
Do you have a special skill such as painting, teaching, amateur astronomy, storytelling or are you a keen naturalist? Let’s talk about how this skill can help with FOPI’s goals! We can also use any relevant information you might have about the islands, their history, geology, plants and animals, and photographs.
Get Involved:
- Become a Friend of Petrie Island for $10 per year (see details below)
- Join us at one of the spring cleanups and open houses
- Attend one of the regular monthly meetings to share your ideas and support
- Support the Friends work on the island with a donation made at the Nature Centre (or sent in to the Chair)
- Attend the annual general meeting and learn about FOPI activities
- Become a regular volunteer with the Wednesday work crews or the invasive species crews.
- Come to the island on a summer weekend and share your adventure/photos with us
- Consider a family membership to enjoy membership discounts and special events
Membership in Friends of Petrie Island
Annual membership is $10 for an individual and $25 for a family.
If you would like to become a member,
Step 1- complete the form below.
Step 2- pay online by going to our Payments page
Members Receive:
– discounts on tent rentals
– discounts on organized tours
– special members-only events
– monthly emailed dispatches from the island
– occasional bulletins about conditions/happenings on the island
– opportunity to participate, volunteer and meet other members
For further information please contact the Friends of Petrie Island.