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Kootenay Connect

Kootenay Connect: Corridor Science

Building climate resilience by enhancing ecological connectivity and habitat networks across the Kootenays.

Staying Connected

When large terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are connected, they are more resilient to climate change. Why is this? Processes important for ecosystem stability can function properly, and species are able to move and shift their ranges to adapt to new, suitable habitats and climates.

During this time of rapid climate change, conservation efforts are needed to increase biological and ecosystem resilience and provide opportunities for species to adapt to the changing conditions.

Our Approach

Key components of Kootenay Connect’s long-term conservation strategy are to protect ‘hotspots’ of biodiversity, connect high quality habitats, and maintain wildlife corridors and connectivity for both current movement and future opportunities in the face of climate disruption.

Since populations of plants, wildlife, fish, and other organisms operate over large spatial scales, taking a landscape approach to conservation within the mountainous topography of the Kootenays means looking both north-south along our valleys and east-west across our valleys and ridgelines to include varying elevational gradients.

This broad scale perspective captures the spatial extent of important habitats, biodiversity, and ecological processes important for Grizzly Bears, Mountain Goats, American Badgers, Rocky Mountain Elk, and Wolverine that rely upon connected habitats and safe passage from valley bottom wetlands to the alpine.

Kootenay Connect’s approach to coordinated corridors and connectivity conservation and stewardship includes

1
Considering the entire landscape including valley bottoms and uplands since all types of wildlife need to be able to move;
2
Focusing on ecological connectivity as key for ensuring the long-term ecosystem health that will lead to the maintenance or recovery of important species; and
3
Incorporating climate change resilience into our project designs by predicting potential “climate adaptation corridors and refugia” that will be important for species to adapt to a changing climate.

Kootenay Connect’s mapping of valley bottom-upland connectivity and climate refugia and corridors is helping to identify new biodiversity conservation opportunities on private and Crown land in the region.

Corridor Science Highlights

The highlights from Year 1 (2019-20) to Year 7 (2025-26) are listed below.

Year 7 Highlights (2025-26)

Report: KCP & Science Advisor 2025-26 Annual Report

This report summarizes 7 years of conservation thinking, actions, and advice provided by M. Proctor to the Kootenay Connect Priority Places’ Environment and Climate Change Canada Nature Fund: Community-Nominated Priority Places for Species at Risk project. Overall, this project has brought significant and lasting improvements to the Kootenay Region’s species at risk habitats, riparian wetland complexes, landscape-level connectivity, protected land base, and conservation community through the work of its many partners. The work has resulted in much hands-on, bottom-up, real-world conservation. Our efforts have been vigorously science-based, and we hope programs such as this continue into our future.

Year 6 Highlights (2024-25)

Report: KCP & Science Advisor 2024-25 Annual Report

This report provides a brief summary by M. Procter of scientific highlights and activities completed in 2025/25 in each of the Kootenay Connect focal areas. M Proctor has made several improvements to cross-valley, upland-to-upland large mammal corridors within the Columbia Wetland area and overseen work by our GIS mapping specialist Marie-Ange Fournier-Beck and ecologist and climate modeler Greg Utzig, who has applied global climate models to local corridors to ensure climate thinking is applied to our Kootenay Connect Priority Places projects where relevant.

Year 5 Highlights (2023-24)

Report: KCP & Science Advisor 2023-34 Annual Report

This report provides a brief summary by M. Procter of scientific highlights and activities completed in 2023/24 in each of the Kootenay Connect focal areas.