Living Economies

We’re using science, economics, and policy to advance nature-positive economies in British Columbia. 

Raincoast’s Living Economies Program explores how healthy ecosystems can support thriving local economies. We quantify the economic value of ecosystem services, habitat restoration, and conservation initiatives, while developing innovative approaches to finance and the delivery of conservation in salmon-bearing watersheds. By integrating economics, western science, conservation finance, and policy, we work to create solutions that generate employment, strengthen local economies, and support resilient communities across British Columbia. 

Building on a decade years of habitat restoration and job creation

The Living Economies Program builds on the success of Raincoast’s decade-long habitat restoration and conservation work in the Lower Fraser River. Over the past 10 years, our projects have removed barriers to fish passage, controlled invasive species, and restored critical habitat for wild Pacific salmon.

This work created employment for 50 people, with more than $885,576.48 in grant funding directly supporting local jobs. The projects brought together a diverse range of expertise, including biologists, Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, First Nations youth, environmental monitors, engineers,  heavy machinery operators, construction consultants, archaeologists, and graduate students. 

By investing in habitat restoration, this initiative has contributed to the recovery of endangered Pacific salmon while demonstrating that conservation can create meaningful employment opportunities – even within one of the most urbanized and highly modified landscapes in British Columbia.

Aerial photo of tiny, distant workers with hard hats walking around the Fraser River Estuary, surrounded by grasses and water.
Misty MacDuffee, Noah Kussin-Bordo, David Scott, and Peter Kidd in the Fraser River estuary.
Photo by Alex Harris.

Conservation Economy Pilot  

In 2026, we are launching a Conservation Economy Pilot that pairs innovative conservation finance mechanisms with habitat restoration to create a scalable model for nature-positive economic development in rural communities. The pilot will demonstrate how investments in ecosystem recovery can generate long-term employment, attract private and public capital, strengthen local economies, and improve outcomes for fish, wildlife, and people.

By bringing together diverse skill sets – from restoration practitioners and foresters to economists, Indigenous partners, engineers, and community organizations – the pilot aims to test a new model for delivering shared environmental and economic benefits that can be replicated across British Columbia.

Recent, from Raincoast

The Salmon United logo floats on top of a river with salmon in it.

Uniting BC’s Salmon People

Raincoast, alongside our allies, is proud to support Salmon United, a new initiative bringing people together to advance a stronger future for Pacific salmon.
The camera is partially underwater, showing a chum salmon under the water and vegetation and mountains above the water.

Canada has the policy tools to protect Pacific salmon. Why aren’t they working?

A new peer-reviewed perspective examines why decades of ambitious conservation policy have failed to halt wild salmon declines and what must change to reverse the trend.
PEPAKIYE standing in front of a crowd of people teaching.

This isn’t a conference, it’s The Confluence

How many colleagues do you know purely by their email sign-off, or a small thumbnail in a zoom meeting? It’s time we changed that.
Thermal imaging report cover floats on top of an underwater scene in the Coldwater River with tiny salmon filling the space in green light.

Mapping thermal refuges: Identifying critical cooling centres for salmon in the Coldwater River

The salmon populations in the Nicola watershed are among the most endangered in BC. The Coldwater River provides critical spawning and rearing habitat for Interior Fraser Coho, Lower Thompson Chinook, and Interior Fraser Steelhead.
A female chum salmon illuminated by a rare sunny break.

In an era of scarcity, the Pacific Salmon Treaty must strengthen conservation

Canada and the U.S. can continue to simply negotiate for our piece of a smaller and smaller pie, or we can come together to defend the legacy of wild salmon in our two countries.
A crew members works in the Fraser River Estuary preparing a small marsh.

Letter: Urgent recommendation for the renewal and expansion of the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF)

Letter to Honourable Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries.
A salmon splashes in a stream with extreme light and dark areas.

Ensure the long-term stability of projects dedicated to the recovery of wild salmon (BCSRIF)

We call on the federal government to make good on its promise to protect the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF).
A group of young professionals gather in a large hall conversing with one another, laughing and enjoying beverages.

We’re bringing the environmental community together with a new event: The Confluence

Join us for this Friday night mixer designed to spark honest conversations, new relationships, and bold ideas.