Highlights from Year 1 (2019-20) to Year 5 (2023-24) are listed below.
Year 5 Highlights (2023-24)
The Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners (CWSP) received funding from Kootenay Connect ECCC for three projects in Columbia Valley. The projects in year 5 of the KC/ECCC projects continue the work from the year 4, providing more detailed science, more on the ground conservation actions and more community involvement. The projects included the 5CW Conservation & Mitigation of Wetland Basins Vulnerable to Drought (5CW Hydro & Beaver), which involved assessing the impact of beaver dams in the Columbia Wetlands, and selecting and constructing artificial beaver dams to mitigate the loss of water overwinter on species at risk (SAR) and waterbirds, and assessing the status of benchland wetlands along the western side of Columbia Valley and restoring degraded beaver dams to restore wetlands in the uplands of Columbia Valley. The second subproject, 5CW Western Painted Turtle and SAR (5CW WP Turtle & SAR) project, sought to enhance conservation actions that would benefit American badger, western painted turtle, Lewis’s woodpecker, and osprey. The third subproject, 5CW Conservation Lands has identified and ranked important biodiversity hotspots in riparian and upland habitat in Columbia Valley.
Year 4 Highlights (2022-23)
The Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners (CWSP) received funding from Kootenay Connect ECCC for four projects in Columbia Valley, BC. The projects included the 4CW Conservation Lands project with a goal to identify and rank important biodiversity hotspots in riparian and upland habitat in Columbia Valley (CV) and describe the conservation values and challenges to conservation in important wildlife corridors in CV. A related goal is to identify and initiate conservation actions in important wildlife corridors and biodiversity hotspots in CV. The second project, 4CW Conservation & Mitigation of Wetland Basins Vulnerable to Drought (4CW Hydro & Beaver) is composed of two subprojects: a) a hydrological evaluation of wetland vulnerability to climate change and determines priority wetlands where management actions like conservation or mitigation should be implemented and b) an assessment of the impact of beaver dams on the wetlands, and selection and construction of artificial beaver dams to mitigate the loss of water overwinter on specie at risk (SAR) and waterbirds. The third project, 4CW Cottonwood & Beaver project, focused on identifying and protecting important cottonwood trees from beaver harvesting. The fourth project, 4CW Western Painted Turtle and Species at-risk (4CW WP Turtle & SAR) project, sought to enhance conservation actions that would benefit American badger, Western painted turtle, Lewis’s woodpecker, and osprey.
Year 3 Highlights (2021-22)
The Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners completed 4 projects as part of the Kootenay Connect- ECCC project. The projects included the 3CW Conservation Lands project whose goal was to identify and rank important biodiversity hotspots in riparian and upland habitat in Columbia Valley (CV) and initiate conservation actions in the hotspots. The second project, 3CW Conservation & Mitigation of Wetland Basins Vulnerable to Drought (3CW Hydro & Beaver) is composed of two sub projects: the hydrological subproject evaluates wetland vulnerability and determines priority wetlands where management actions like conservation or mitigation should be implemented. The second subproject assesses the impact of beaver dams on the wetland and constructed an artificial beaver dam to mitigate the loss of water overwinter. The third CW-KC project, the 3CW cottonwood/beaver project focused on identifying and protecting important cottonwood trees from beaver harvesting. The 4th project 3CW Western Painted Turtle and SAR (3CW WP Turtle & SAR) project objectives are to enhance conservation actions on Lewis’s woodpecker, Western Painted Turtle, alkali saltgrassfoxtail barley ecological community (EC), osprey, and American badger.
Year 1 Highlights (2019-20)
This map provides an overview of data that are available to identify important areas for species at risk as well as potential wildlife movement corridors in the Columbia Wetlands.
