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

Grizzly bear in a river with a salmon in its mouth.

The inertia of broken paradigms

In fisheries management, each population has what’s called a “maximum sustainable yield.”
Southern resident killer whale swimming near the surface of the ocean.

Reach out to your MLA about the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has been given federal approval to double the size of its shipping terminal in the heart of the Fraser River Estuary. The 370 conditions included in the federal approval of the project are insufficient in many places, and the specific conditions that relate to the terminal footprint and underwater shipping…
Three people standing around buckets observing fish in viewfinders.

Job posting: Salmon restoration Conservation Technician

Applications close June 2, 2023.
Roberts bank terminal 2 in the background with greenery in the foreground.

We’re legally challenging the federal government’s approval of Roberts Bank Terminal 2

The Canadian government’s approval of Roberts Bank Terminal 2 violates federal law under the Species at Risk Act.
A school of red fish swim through very clear water, showing the sand beneath them.

Addressing the systemic, anthropogenic threats causing the decline of wild salmon

Raincoast’s Wild Salmon Program is focused on ensuring that wild salmon in British Columbia thrive across their historic landscape at abundance levels that sustain wildlife.
Salmon in a river.

Alaska has been ordered to stop intercepting BC-bound Chinook salmon

In May, 2023, a US federal judge issued a ruling to halt the troll fishery off southeast Alaska’s west coast, saying the permits that enable the fishery do not properly protect endangered Southern Resident killer whales.
Elizabeth May with a bald man wearing glasses behind her, holding a paper and looking concerned in a government building.

Despite a green light from Cabinet, Elizabeth May presents petition on Roberts Bank terminal expansion in the House of Commons

Our petition reached 4,239 signatures.
Stunning landscape on the shores of the Fraser River with the coastal mountains looming in the background.

Reflecting on the recent IPCC report and what we can do

Though the conclusions of the International Panel on Climate Change report are grim, protecting and restoring natural ecosystems is an effective step.