Okanagan Desert


The Okanagan Desert is the common name for a semi-arid area located in the South Okanagan Valley region of British Columbia, Canada, primarily around the town of Osoyoos. Part of the area is called the Nk'mip Desert by the Osoyoos Indian Band, though the entire region, like other similar parts of the British Columbia Interior, is technically a semi-arid shrub-steppe.

Shrub-steppe species

South Okanagan shrub-steppe contains several species of plants and animals not found elsewhere in Canada. It is the presence of these specific plants in the Antelope-brush ecosystem that is claimed to make the area unique from other semi-desert areas in British Columbia. The South Okanagan shrub-steppe ecosystem is a habitat for 30% of the Red-listed and 46% of the Blue-listed vertebrates in British Columbia, with several listed as threatened or endangered. More than 24 invertebrates exist only in the Okanagan Desert, with an additional 80 species occurring nowhere else in Canada.
As of 2009, 23 species were Red-listed in the South Okanagan shrub-steppe ecosystem, including:
Over the early 21st century, many fruit-tree orchards were converted to irrigated vineyards.

Organizations in desert

There are multiple groups or organizations located in the Okanagan Desert. The Osoyoos Band, a First Nations government located in British Columbia, runs the Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre as part of its resort and winery complex, which is located on the east side of Osoyoos. The Osoyoos Desert Society, a non-profit society founded in 1991, maintains the Osoyoos Desert Centre, a 67-acre nature interpretive facility north of Osoyoos off Highway 97. The Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society - which focuses on the impact and relationship of the South Okanagan shrub-steppe ecosystem with Osoyoos Lake - is a community public relations organization.

Media

The region was the subject of a 1999 National Film Board of Canada documentary Pocket Desert - Confessions of a Snake Killer.