British Columbia – SER Western Canada

Please help us develop our Restoration Showcase and contact us if you know of any relevant projects.

Point Ellice Woodland Shore Restoration (Gorge Waterway Initiative)

Planning for this major restoration project began in 2007, and the restoration continued with monthly work parties until completion in October 2014. 3,000 hours of volunteer labour have resulted in removal of over 25 tonnes of invasive plants (primarily English ivy and periwinkle) from the shoreline area, and replacement with 950 native trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses. Read more…

Schooner Dunes Sand Dune Restoration (CWFS)

In March of 2017 the Central Westcoast Forest Society (CWFS), in partner with Pacific Rim National Park Reserve carried out restoration on a section of Schooner Cove sand dunes. The restoration of the Schooner Cove dunes aims to bring back vanishing species like the beautiful blooming Pink sand verbena that was once thought to be extinct in Canada and the Silky Beach Pea, of which 60 per cent of the total population is found in Pacific Rim National Park. This recent work in Schooner Cove will contribute to the long term survival of these rare species and help to restore ecosystem resiliency. Read more…

The Marysville Eco Park (Wildsight – Golden)

As part of greater efforts to restore Mark Creek, Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook partnered with the City of Kimberley to transform the lot into a public greenspace in the early 2000s. The team installed rockwork on the streambank to prevent erosion, excavated the lot to create varied topography, and landscaped the site with trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants native to the area. Today, the site is well on its way to becoming a riparian oasis, providing shade for stream temperature control and fish habitat values, stormwater filtration, even habitat for songbirds. Read More…

Restoring Lost Saltmarsh to Create Habitat Connectivity (Comox Valley Project Watershed Society)

In the fall of 2014 Project Watershed undertook a restoration of the foreshore saltmarsh habitat. The concurrent restoration of these eelgrass and saltmarsh habitats creates connectivity between the subtidal, intertidal and foreshore zones within the estuary. These habitats form part of the “salmon highway” providing important foraging and refuge areas for Pacific salmon as they out-migrate to the ocean as juveniles, and then once again when they return to spawn as adults. Striving to re-establish habitat connectivity is an important element of restoration design because human alteration of the landscape has resulted in increasingly fragmented habitat. Read more…

Columbia Lake – Lot 48 Ecosystem Restoration (Nature Conservancy of Canada Project)

The goal of the Columbia Lake – Lot 48 Ecosystem Restoration project was to create resilient ecosystems through the restoration of open forest structure and grassland communities in areas where forest ingrowth and encroachment are occurring. Open stands are more resistant to climate change, provide and safeguard communities from catastrophic forest fire and create habitat for threatened species. This restoration benefited the Upper Columbia Valley through the enhancement of wildlife habitat, fire hazard abatement and providing a buffer to the adverse effects of climate change (e.g. drought, increased risk of wildfire). Examples of habitat enhancement include increasing forage for wintering ungulates, such as Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and elk, and maintaining Columbia ground squirrel habitat which are a key prey species for the red-listed badger. For a complete article on the project visit the Kootenay Conservation Program or the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Stave River Freshwater Estuary Wetland Restoration (Ducks Unlimited Canada Project)

Credit: DUC

DUC, in partnership with FVWC, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Stave Valley Salmonid Enhancement Society, and with the help from many community volunteers, undertook a multi-year restoration of the site. It began with constructing deeper water areas and shallow benches, contouring channels and islands, installing pipes, as well as planting wetland aquatics and terrestrial shrubs and trees. Read more…

Moody’s Slough (Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program Success Story)

Moody’s slough is a side channel of the Cheakamus River that has combined ground water and river flows and provides important habitat for numerous salmonids, including Coho salmon. It is a complex slough system with several “blind” off-shoot channels. With funding from the Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program, the Squamish River Watershed Society re-connected several channels through channel excavation, culvert installation, weir construction and diversions so that flows were re-established. These channels now provide important over-wintering, spawning, and rearing habitat for Coho salmon and other salmonids. It is expected that 10,000 to 20,000 Coho fry will benefit year round from these changes. The high-quality refuge habitat will be especially important in summer.

Columbia Valley’s Oldest Working Cattle Ranch (Nature Conservancy Canada Project)

A conservation-minded couple has partnered with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to protect more than 11,000 acres (4,500 hectares) of grasslands on their Columbia Valley ranch. Bob and Barb Shaunessy are the owners of SRL-K2 Ranch, a working cattle ranch that dates back to 1898. The Shaunessys have spent years restoring the ranch’s grasslands to their former vitality, efforts which have culminated in the establishment of a conservation covenant on a large portion of the ranchlands. Read more…

Pyramid Slide

This project summary describes bank stabilization and restoration of riparian habitats carried out following a landslide in June 2012 between Kamloops and Valemount.

Vantreight Slope

The annotated photos in this presentation provide an overview of bioengineering techniques used to stabilize a steep slope.

Campbell River Estuary

This joint effort between the City of Campbell River, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and the Tula Foundation saw the reclamation of a heavily impacted industrial site to an functioning estuary. A summary of the project, including the video “The Amazing Makeover of the Campbell River Estuary” are available on the Nature Conservancy’s website. This area is now designated the Baikie Island Nature Reserve, complete with interpretive trails.

Amphibian Wetlands Project – Squamish River Watershed Society

Through the Sea-to-Sky highway realignment both permanent and ephemeral wetlands were lost, and 1037 amphibians, including 683 Red-Legged frogs had to be salvaged. To compensate for these impacts, the Ministry of Transportation provided funding to the Ministry of Environment to facilitate habitat restoration to benefit Red-legged frogs. In 2011 the Ministry of Environment retained the Squamish River Watershed Society to carry out the wetland restoration project. The SRWS built 8 wetlands in existing floodplains just north of the Squamish Adventure Center called the Mamquam Reunion, and area also known as the Britannia Slough, and an additional 3 wetlands on old Highway 99 road bed, adjacent to West Brohm Creek just south of Brohm Lake. For more information on the project, click here.

Protecting & Restoring Eelgrass on the Pacific North Coast – Squamish River Watershed Society

From 2011-2007, the Seagrass Conservation Working Group (SCWG) with the help of community volunteers across BC mapped 12,000 ha of eelgrass habitat, and in 2008 published a Strategy for Eelgrass Restoration in British Columbia. Since 2008 the Squamish River Watershed Society, with the support of the SCWG, has been planting and monitoring eelgrass annually at sites in the Squamish Estuary, the Cattermole Slough, the Mamquam Blind Channel, and on the Squamish Nation Reserve at the mouth of the Stawamus River. For more information, click here or check out BC Wildlife Federation’s blog post.

Parks Canada was a partner in the ecological restoration of the Lyall Creek ecosystem on Saturna Island in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. The project focused on re-establishing a chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) population in Lyall Creek, as well as improving conditions for coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkia clarkii). A small culvert that had blocked upstream migration of salmon was removed and replaced with a larger concrete box culvert. This was followed by restoration of the creek’s spawning and riparian (stream bank) habitats. Results of monitoring indicate good numbers of salmon returning to spawn. The Saturna Island community initiated the project in the 1990s, and has remained very engaged. Staff from Parks Canada became involved in 2003 when Gulf Islands National Park Reserve was established.

Parks Canada led the restoration of Garry oak ecosystems at Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site. The project focused on removing and controlling invasive plants that threatened the rare and sensitive native species associated with Garry oak meadows and associated ecosystems. Some of the rare plants were protected from grazing of hyperabundant deer and rabbits by enclosing a 1.3 hectare area within a fence. Hand-collected seeds from the site were grown in a nursery and resulted in several thousand native plants to be planted within the fenced area. Parks Canada is engaging visitors to Fort Rodd Hill through new interpretive media, as well as through interpretive and volunteer programs.

Peninsula Stream Society

Peninsula Streams Society helps coordinate stream restoration and habitat conservation on the Saanich Peninsula. Check out their past and ongoing projects here.

Wildlife Habitat Canada Projects

Wildlife Habitat Canada has been involved in a number of restoration projects in BC. Summaries of these projects are available on their website.

Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team Projects

Summit Park (Photo by Emrys Miller / Among Nature)

The Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT) was formed in 1999 to coordinate efforts to protect and restore endangered Garry oak and associated ecosystems and the species at risk that inhabit them.

View their current and completed restoration projects here.

Blanket Creek Provincial Park Restoration Project

The Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society is leading a multi-year project to restore an area of Blanket Creek Provincial Park that has been impacted by invasive species. Read more.