Category: Projects

Building Like Beavers — BCWF’s 10,000 Wetlands Project Update

BCWF’s 10,000 Wetlands Project Aims to Restore British Columbia’s Watersheds After centuries of beaver exploitation and loss of productive beaver habitat, the B.C. Wildlife Federation is transforming ecosystem restoration in British Columbia through its innovative 10,000 Wetlands project. This initiative leverages low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) techniques, inspired by beavers’ tenacious dam-building tendencies, to address pressing…
Microplastics Are No Small Problem

Microplastics are everywhere—floating in our waterways, drifting through the air we breathe, and settling in delicate ecosystems. These tiny plastic particles aren’t just a concern for humans, who unknowingly consume thousands of them daily; they’re also invading fish and wildlife habitats, disrupting food chains and threatening biodiversity. But what exactly are microplastics, and why do…
Toxic Tire Leaching — A Threat to Salmon Survival

The importance of removing harmful debris, such as tires, from the Fraser River Estuary cannot be overstated. Between 2021 and 2024, the B.C. Wildlife Federation’s Fraser River Tidal Marsh Clean-up team worked tirelessly to tackle this issue. Crew members reported finding a wide range of random debris in the estuary—shoes, hats, flip-flops—scattered across islands where…
nʔaʕx̌ʷt (Ginty’s Pond) — The Power of Partnerships

As much as 85% of wetlands have been lost in the Okanagan and Similkameen region. Given the heavy dependency on water conservation in farming communities like Cawston, BC—known as the Organic Capital of Canada—the opportunity to restore Ginty’s Pond (nʔaʕx̌ʷt) back to an open water wetland was a clear choice for Josie Symonds, a senior…
Ginty’s Pond (nʔaʕx̌ʷt) Wetland Restoration Enters Second Phase

The B.C. Wildlife Federation is excited to announce the start of the second phase of the Ginty’s Pond (Nʔaʕx̌ʷt) wetland restoration. Located in Cawston within the territory of the Smelqmix people of the Sylix Nation, the historical nʔaʕx̌ʷt wetland was once an oxbow pond of the Similkameen River. Over the years, significant agricultural water use…
5 Tips for Your Next Clean-up Event From the Fraser River Tidal Marsh Clean-up Crew

The impact of our consumer products is far greater than we realize. In the Fraser River estuary, we’ve already lost over 80% of tidal marsh habitat due to industry, development, and overall degradation. This loss has had a significant, often unrealized, impact on salmon, birds, marine mammals, and other species. With a finite amount of…
A Feel-Good Story — Finding Lost Photos in Boundary Bay

Photos are cherished keepsakes that cause memories to flood back with just a look. Losing photos is not unlike losing memories from a rosy past. As the Fraser River Tidal Marsh Clean-up (FRTMC) team was out removing debris along Boundary Bay, one of our crew members found a small bottle with three SD cards inside.…
Beavers as Bioengineers

The B.C. Wildlife Federation is turning to expert engineers—otherwise known as beavers—to help protect our province’s precious land and water resources. Our 10,000 Wetlands project aims to use beaver-based restoration to enhance watershed resilience by harnessing the industrious skills of beavers, a species that has faced near eradication. The project aims to build dozens of…
Restoring the Fraser River Estuary — Doubling Targets and Conservation Efforts

“When you’re looking at the tidal marsh islands from a distance from across the South Arm, they look like they’re non-impacted. As soon as you step foot on the islands, however, you’ve collected a garbage bag worth of debris within two steps.” – Haiden MacDonald, BCWF Fish Habitat Restoration Coordinator. In the age of readily…
First Set of Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs) Built

In mid-July, our team under the leadership of Jen Rogers, BCWF’s Beaver Restoration Assessment Lead, embarked on the first few of 100 BDAs set to be built across the province over the next two years. To date, our beaver and fish habitat restoration teams have installed baseline monitoring equipment at 7 project locations across the…