Update: 50 wetland stewards get free training with BCWF
Fifty people took part in two-day wetland workshops funded by the FWCP and delivered by the BC Wildlife Federation in Fort St. James, Moberly Lake, Mackenzie, and Tsay Keh Dene.
These hands-on workshops are much more than just about education. Important inventory work is done, partnerships developed, and potential wetland restoration sites were identified. BC Wildlife Federation already has FWCP funding for a small wetland restoration project at Morfee Elementary School in Mackenzie in 2019.
Enhancing stewardship capacity for wetland restoration
The BC Wildlife Federation will offer four wetland inventory and restoration design workshops with partnering communities (i.e. Mackenzie, Nak’azdli, Saulteau and West Moberly, and Tsay Keh Dene and Kwadacha). The wetland inventory training will enhance local capacity to ground truth and interpret wetland information, which will add value to the FWCP’s Williston Reservoir wetland inventory initiative. Participants will also receive hands-on training to identify and develop restoration design prescriptions. BC Wildlife Federation staff, restoration expert, Tom Biebighauser, and at least one First Nation technician will be involved in a minimum of five days of wetland restoration reconnaissance in the FWCP’s Peace Region to prepare restoration designs. Restoration would be pursued in future years.
Final report: executive summary
Beginning April 1st 2018, the BC Wildlife Federation’s Wetlands Education Program successfully delivered programming in the Peace region in order to fulfill commitments made within the FWCP proposal “Enhancing stewardship capacity for wetland restoration” (PEA-F19-W-2651). Workshops supported the West Moberly, Saulteau, Nak’azdli, Saikuz, and Tsay Keh Dene First Nations, and added value to the Williston Reservoir Wetland Inventory Initiative. Workshops focused on transferring wetland stewardship and restoration skills. Tsay Keh Dene and Saulteau First Nation partners expressed interest in applying to FWCP funding for 2019-20 as a direct result of BCWF’s workshops. BCWF also used the opportunity to explore sites for potential wetland restoration projects.
Click the provincial database link below to read the full final report for this project.