Join Project Watershed on April 4th for discussion of our community restoration efforts and research over the last 2 years on Blue Carbon in the K’omoks Estuary. This workshop will provide a sneak peek of the presentations and material that will be discussed at the Salish Sea Conference in April.

For details on the day’s workshop, see the schedule of events below:

10:00-10:12 Don Castleden, From Symposium to Action
10:15-10:27 Jennifer Sutherst, Restoration of Saltmarsh Habitat Using Engineered Barrier Islands
10:30-10:45 Questions
10:45-10:57 Dan Bowen, Airpark Lagoon Breach – Restoring Habitat Connectivity for Fish
10:57 – 11:09 Angela Spooner, Five years of Eelgrass Habitat Restoration in the K’omoks Estuary to be discussed by group (Angela may not be able to attend)
11:09 – 11:30 Questions
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch break and poster viewing

POSTER: Dan Bowen & Team, Bull Kelp Restoration Research in K’omoks Estuary
POSTER: Christine Hodgson, Blue Carbon in the Comox Valley: The Benefits of Eelgrass and Salt marsh Restoration in Coastal Communities

12:30-2 – Blue Carbon Workshop Overview and discussion to follow

The first part of the workshop will focus on two key areas.

1. Mapping of intertidal and subtidal eelgrass – benefits, limitations and challenges.
2. Core sediment sampling for eelgrass – approaches used, benefits, limitations and challenges. We will use the data we have gathered from the K’ómoks Estuary to illustrate our findings.

The second half of the workshop will examine:

• Where eelgrass detritus is distributed in the K’ómoks Estuary – including a report of a new and extremely interesting observation of eelgrass detritus shoreline burial,
• New approaches to follow this detritus with DNA signature sequences,
• Confirmation of Zostera marina DNA in deep water sediments outside the estuary,
• How this information can support mapping the distribution of eelgrass carbon in other estuaries, and
• How understanding the geology and hydraulics of the estuary determines where
  detritus burial occurs.

Seating is limited so please contact us no later than March 30th to arrange for discussion time in the workshop or to indicate your attendance at projectwatershed@gmail.com.

Location:  Rose Theatre, 2364 Rosewall Crescent, Courtenay, BC V9N 8R9, Canada