Tag: Nature
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Mapping Our Marshes with the Wetlands Education Program — 2023
The Wetlands Education Program (WEP) runs several workshops throughout the year in order to engage and educate interested participants about wetlands. One of these programs is Map our Marshes (MoM). This is a 1.5 day workshop that focuses on entry-level technical and field skills for mapping smaller wetlands using free software, GPS, and your smartphone!…
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Bonaparte channel restoration is a win for coho and the people who love them
The Bonaparte River coho channel is a unique and potentially productive coho salmon rearing habitat again, thanks to the efforts of the Bonaparte First Nation and the B.C. Wildlife Federation (BCWF). The original 500-metre channel has been restored, renewed and doubled in length, according to Bonaparte CEO Sean Bennett. “The fencing was basically rotten, the…
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Planting Seeds for Long-term Change
What comes to mind when you think of salmonberries? Do you think about how their flowers nurture pollinators, and their berries feed creatures of every size? Perhaps you pondered how fallen fruit attracts insects to nestle into the soil and among the fallen leaves. Indeed, salmonberry is a potent force for diversity and abundance. A…
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Quadra Island Schoolyard Given New Life with Wetland Build
A schoolyard on Quadra Island is being given new life as the B.C. Wildlife Federation, Quadra Island Elementary School, and School District 72 restore a historic wetland to provide habitat for native plants and animals, while also creating an outdoor classroom for students. At first glance, the school’s large sports field surrounded by towering trees…
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Fire & Water in the East Kootenays
This July, the Wetlands Education Program (WEP) team ventured to the picturesque East Kootenays to host a Wetlandkeepers workshop. Located in the southeast corner of British Columbia, the East Kootenay’s are a mountainous region home to numerous small towns such as Golden, Invermere, Cranbrook, and Canal Flats, the host community of this workshop. Each of…
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Wetlands in Urban Environments — Armstrong-Spallumcheen Wetlandkeepers
In mid-June, the Wetlands Education Program (WEP) team travelled to the North Okanagan to visit Armstrong and Spallumcheen. Like many of the locations WEP visits, Armstrong and Spallumcheen are situated at the bottom of one of B.C.’s numerous river valleys. Valleys are the result of longstanding erosion of land by glaciers, rivers, or streams. It’s…
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Rossland Wetlandkeepers 2019
Educating interested community members, working professionals, and students about wetlands is the BC Wildlife Federation’s Wetlands Education Program (WEP)‘s bread and butter, and from July 10 – 18, the WEP Team had the pleasure of doing just that. While embarking on a whirlwind tour of the Kootenays and the Okanagan, we hosted a Wetlandkeepers workshop in beautiful Rossland on…
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Increasing Stewardship Capacity in Remote Communities — Peace/Williston Region
The first two weeks of June proved to be a busy time for the BCWF’s Wetlands Education Program (WEP). Led by Wetlands Education Program Manager Neil Fletcher, the WEP team traveled through northeastern B.C. to deliver workshops in partnership with three remote First Nations: the Tsay Keh Dene Nation, Kwadacha Nation, and McLeod Lake Indian…
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From Theory to Practice — Salt Spring Island Wetlands Institute 2018
Narrowly avoiding the Pacific Storms, the BCWF Wetlands Education Program (WEP) team was lucky to spend time away from our office in Surrey and in the safe haven of Salt Spring Island for the 16th annual Wetlands Institute. 23 enthusiastic participants from a mix of backgrounds, including: Non-profits, First Nations, Hobby Farmers, Consultants, Government, and Archaeologists,…
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Touring the Interior — A Map our Marshes Double Feature
Nimbly avoiding the mounting floodwaters, the Wetlands Education Program team hosted two Map our Marshes workshops in Peachland (May 6) and Salmo (May 10), sandwiching a mélange of wetland site visits, presentations, and restoration prescriptions. Held in partnership with the Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance, the first workshop began in the charming “Little Schoolhouse” before proceeding…