Vancouver Island organisations receive watershed funding support
Read excerpts from an article by My Cowichan Valley Now Staff about four BC projects that were recently selected to receive funding from the Watershed Security Fund, including Ditidaht First Nation and Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation. NBSF is proud to be partnering with Ditidaht First Nation on a new Indigenous projected area project on southwestern Vancouver Island, which will soon benefit from this impactful funding initiative!
Some excerpts:
Vancouver Island organisations receive watershed funding support
From article by My Cowichan Valley Now Staff. Originally published in My Cowichan Valley Now on October 24, 2024.
Four watershed governance projects on Vancouver Island are sharing in nearly five-million dollars being distributed throughout the province from the Watershed Security Fund.
The money will contribute to improving and rehabilitating communities’ resilience to climate change, regional food security, as helping safeguard fish, and local habitats.
The Ditidaht First Nation is receiving $145,000, and is partnering with the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation to plan for establishing Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas within its territory.
The goal is to safeguard critical watersheds, old-growth forests, and culturally significant areas, ensuring the preservation of Ditidaht environment and cultural heritage.
A part of the plan is to develop sustainable and diversified economic initiatives to move away from old-growth logging revenues.
The Salmon Parks Stewardship Society will be receiving $150,000.
The SSPS was formed by the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation Council of Chiefs to restore wild salmon populations through the recovery of key watersheds in Nootka Sound.
As many as eight technician trainees will be recruited and given peer-based training to do cultural and ecological mapping within the salmon parks.
For youth who are interested in the STEM aspect of the work, training to process, organize and maintain datasets will also be provided by SPSS.
The funds are for the first intake of applications to the Watershed Security Fund in June.
The fund was established by the BC government on March 6, 2023, with an initial contribution of $100 million to create a permanent endowment fund to a permanent revenue stream that meets the demand for funding support from across the province.
Read the full article here: