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

Map of the West Coast of North America showing watersheds, major salmon rivers and major barriers to those rivers.

Mapping Chinook watersheds that feed into the critical habitat of Southern Resident killer whales

We created this map to emphasize the relationship between the recovery of Southern Resident killer whales and the recovery of wild Chinook salmon.

A school of salmon as seen from below in the Fraser River.

Sign our official petition to tell the federal government to reject Roberts Bank Terminal 2

This is a legally binding petition. If we surpass 500 signatures, the petition is required to be presented to Steven Guilbeault in the House of Commons.

Two Southern resident killer whales surfacing in the ocean.

Opposed to the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion? You’re not alone

The list of groups opposed to the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion includes several First Nations, a suite of conservation organizations in both Canada and the United States, scientists, Canada’s own federal regulators, local community groups, a church, and a worker’s union.