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

An illustration of pink salmon filets with some chopped lemons and seasoning.

So you live in B.C., but you’re mostly finding Alaska-caught salmon in stores. Why?

We need to talk about cost, complexities, what “sustainable salmon” really means.
A rusty full container ship drives by a pod of killer whales.

Study: Toxic hydrocarbon hotspots in BC coastal sediments, threatening Southern Resident killer whales and Chinook salmon

Burgeoning marine traffic to bring more toxic hydrocarbons to killer whale habitats.
Multiple people stand along the bank of a river with sticks poking up out of the ground around them.

To restore salmon habitat, one must act like the beaver

Rebuilding riparian habitat, one stick at a time.
A hand holds up a clear plastic container with a small Chinook fry in water in it.

What our estuary salmon fieldwork crews are up to

Reflections from seven (going on eight) years of fieldwork in the Fraser River Estuary.
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.