Kootenay Conservation Program (KCP), Wildsight Golden, and Shuswap Band brought together diverse perspectives from the area to discuss priority actions for stewardship of local fish and wildlife, and to identify partnerships moving forward.
At the Golden Conservation Action Forum Check-in Meeting last month, over 40 biologists and representatives from various local stewardship organizations, First Nations, and other agencies came together to review the progress being made on the five priority actions identified during a previous regional forum hosted in 2020.
The day began with presenters from 16 organizations providing updates on the results of conservation and stewardship projects occurring throughout the region. They shared information on local research and restoration projects benefiting wetlands, native fish habitat, bats, wolverine, bighorn sheep, swallows, grizzly bears, fire restoration, and recreational impacts, to name a few. Attendees spent the afternoon in breakout groups discussing next steps for key actions and potential collaborations.
“First Nations and stewardship organizations in the Golden area are doing important conservation work by collectively planning and working on shared priorities to benefit the community,” said Juliet Craig, KCP’s Program Director. “By bringing diverse organizations together to share knowledge, important collaborations can be fostered toward stewardship of Golden area’s unique ecology and biodiversity.”
Priority actions discussed at the forum included: considering scientific and Indigenous knowledge to protect habitat for species at risk and biodiversity; protecting and enhancing watersheds, wetlands, and aquatic habitats; establishing and recognizing multi-species wildlife corridors; mitigating recreational impacts by incorporating recreation and ecological data to inform land use decision-making; and increasing climate resilience through fire restoration.
“This forum provided an important opportunity for the Golden conservation community to identify common goals and concrete actions going forward to increase the collective impact of everyone’s efforts,” added Craig.
To learn more, and to read the Summary Report, please go to https://kootenayconservation.ca/golden-check-in-meeting/.
Lead image: In late January, over 40 participants from local organizations provided updates on conservation and stewardship projects occurring throughout the Golden area. KCP photo
