A Saanich nature sanctuary has received grant funding that will help restore its waterways to improve coho and chum salmon habitats.
The Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary will use the Pacific Salmon Foundation funds on a new project focusing on riparian restoration and youth engagement.
“This project will allow us to have more participants engaged with our water quality monitoring work aligned with provincial standards,” Cara Gibson, the nature sanctuary’s executive director, said in a news release.
Other new programs this year will teach participants how to build vegetated floating islands to absorb excess nutrients and how to do aquatic plant surveys.
The Pacific Salmon Foundation doled out almost $800,000 to 65 community-led salmon restoration, education and stewardship projects across the province in the fall. The group expects the initiatives will generate $3.7 million for salmon conservation.
The foundation said its Community Salmon Project has been empowering volunteers, local streamkeepers, Indigenous communities and schools to take proactive measures to recover Pacific salmon and their habitats since 1989.
“The needs of salmon populations across B.C. have changed since the Pacific Salmon Foundation launched the Community Salmon Program more than three decades ago,” Michael Meneer, the foundation’s CEO said in the news release. “We’ve expanded our grant program to meet the growing demand for funding from local stewards and the evolving challenges salmon face – such as climate change and habitat loss.”
Other Greater Victoria recipients of the funding include the Goldstream Volunteer Salmon Enhancement Association, the Peninsula Streams Society and the Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society.
READ: Parksville, Oak Bay spas named among best in North America