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Who We Are

The B.C. Wildlife Federation has a longstanding commitment to the conservation of water and watersheds, which is central to its mission to protect, restore, and enhance the natural environments of British Columbia.  

A keystone of the BCWF’s Watershed Team for over a decade has been focused on engagement with First Nations and Indigenous-led organizations in an effort to promote the health of wetlands and watersheds across the province. 

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The BCWF’s Watershed Team focuses on enhancing watershed security throughout the province and is structured around three core elements: 

Restoration Projects: The BCWF’s Watershed Team engages in various restoration projects, including wetland restoration, beaver-based restoration, and stream (fish habitat) restoration. This work, often conducted in collaboration with a variety of partners, sees the BCWF sometimes taking the lead and other times playing a supporting role. These projects can span many years and typically include maintenance and monitoring to ensure long-term success well beyond the initial restoration. 

Education Programs: The BCWF Watershed Team’s education programs are instrumental in enhancing grassroots, community-driven environmental conservation efforts and promoting the health and sustainability of watershed resources across the province. Through the Wetlands Education Program (WEP) and the Fish Habitat Restoration and Education Program (FHREP), the BCWF provides province-wide educational courses, workshops, and outreach events. These initiatives aim to equip local communities with the knowledge and tools needed to better understand and steward the natural spaces in and around their communities. 

Conservation Tools: The BCWF’s Watershed Team develops and utilizes a variety of conservation tools in partnership with organizations throughout British Columbia and Canada. These tools are primarily focused on assessing, cataloging, and enhancing the understanding and management of wetland ecosystems in BC. Notable initiatives include the Wetlands Ecosystem Services Protocol (WESP), which standardizes the assessment of wetland functions; the Canadian National Wetlands Inventory (CNWI), contributing to a comprehensive database of wetlands in BC; the Forest Range Evaluation Program (FREP) that trains professionals in wetland assessments for forestry; and the development of ‘Wetland Plants of BC,’ a digital guide detailing indicator species for wetland classification. 

*The BCWF’s Watershed Team is internally known as the Conservation Stewardship Department. 

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The B.C. Wildlife Federation is proud to protect watersheds across British Columbia, and provide on-the-ground restoration, monitoring, maintenance alongside education to better our world for generations to come. Our programs and projects span the Province of BC; across many First Nations communities’ traditional, ancestral, unceded and contemporary territories. The BCWF Watershed Team deploys work-pods across British Columbia aiming to improve riparian area habitat, monitor the effectiveness of wetland restoration sites, advance collaborative restoration projects with First Nations and communities, provide employment opportunities, and to support Province-wide monitoring initiatives that will improve wetland and watershed management.

We’d like to thank the First Nations communities we worked with to date for their collaboration, hospitality, and dedication to protecting watersheds. 

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