Funding habitat restoration and conservation in the Lower Fraser Region
Invitation to join the Adaptation for Ecological Resilience (AFER) Network: Funding and Fiscal Tools Working Group.
The Lower Fraser Region is a complex geography that is home to both BC’s largest human population and the most important salmon-producing river in Western Canada that empties into the largest estuary on the West Coast of North America. However, due to extensive biodiversity loss, urban runoff, outdated flood management infrastructure, and a rapidly changing climate, the ecological resilience of the Lower Fraser River and Estuary faces unprecedented challenges.
Numerous organizations and individuals in the Lower Mainland Region are actively working to address these threats. Raincoast Conservation Foundation, the Adaptation to Climate Change Team at Simon Fraser University, Rivershed Society of BC and the Georgia Strait Alliance initiated the Adaptation for Ecological Resilience (AFER) Network to stimulate increased coordination, communication, and collaboration among organizations and individuals actively working on conservation and restoration initiatives in the Lower Fraser River.
Your invitation
The AFER Network features working groups to provide space for focused discussion of key topics related to conservation initiatives in the Lower Fraser. On June 17th from 1-3 pm, we are launching our Funding and Fiscal tools Working Group, which will discuss what a post-covid funding world could look like, shifts in funders’ strategic focus, and the role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in shaping funding priorities. Our first meeting will feature the following guest panelists to speak on these topics:
- Tom Nevin, Senior Project Manager, BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region
- Fin Donelly, Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Legislative Assembly of BC
- Sherry Yano, Director, Grants and Community Engagement, Real Estate Foundation of BC
- Linda Nowlan, Senior Director of the Sustainability Initiative, University of British Columbia
Additionally, Raincoast’s Coordinator for the Lower Fraser Salmon Conservation Program Coordinator, Kristen Walters, will present her research findings on the ‘funding landscape’ of the Lower Fraser Region. This work has explored the scale and scope of funding that has been provided by funders across sectors for fish habitat restoration and conservation initiatives from 2009 to 2019.
Please join us for our Funding and Fiscal tools Working Group on June 17th from 1-3 pm PST. If you would like to register, please email Kristen Walters.
You can check out our new website, which provides an overview of other Working Group themes and the mission and structure of the AFER Network.
You can help
Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government, and other NGOs to build support and inform decisions that protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. We conduct ethically applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for conservation deliberations and the collective body of scientific knowledge.
We investigate to understand coastal species and processes. We inform by bringing science to decision-makers and communities. We inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.
