Tatalu: a transboundary watershed approach to species at risk conservation
Presentation Abstract
The Little Campbell River (LCR), historically known as Tatalu by the Semiahmoo First Nation, is one of the last remaining undyked lowland rivers in the Salish Sea region. Retaining a high level of intact fish and wildlife habitat, and home to a large number of aquatic and terrestrial species at risk, the LCR flows into Semiahmoo Bay, part of the Fraser River Delta; the Delta is a Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar site) and one of Canada’s top-rated Important Bird Areas.
A Rocha Canada has taken a watershed approach to improve the management, protection and restoration of ecosystem function and species at risk populations through collaborative conservation actions and the development of a Watershed Stewardship Plan. The Plan, developed with input from multiple stakeholders, spatially delineates priority habitats for protection or restoration, outlines monitoring plans for multiple species at risk, assigns roles and responsibilities of partners to implement the plan, and proposes goals and timelines to protect or restore target amounts of habitat on a watershed scale. Since this is a transboundary watershed, extending into Washington State and crossing multiple jurisdictions within Canada, A Rocha is uniquely positioned to help facilitate collaborative initiatives in partnership with multiple stakeholders, community members and decision makers throughout the watershed.
This presentation highlights a few examples of collaborative projects within the LCR watershed, including showcasing the Watershed Stewardship Plan, and a report card to communicate and monitor watershed health over time.
Session Title
From Conversation to Conservation Action: Balancing Endangered Species Protection and Growth on BC's South Coast
Conference Track
Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Campbell River (B.C.); Environmental protection--Semiahmoo Bay Region (B.C. and Wash.)--International cooperation
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Tatalu: a transboundary watershed approach to species at risk conservation
2016SSEC
The Little Campbell River (LCR), historically known as Tatalu by the Semiahmoo First Nation, is one of the last remaining undyked lowland rivers in the Salish Sea region. Retaining a high level of intact fish and wildlife habitat, and home to a large number of aquatic and terrestrial species at risk, the LCR flows into Semiahmoo Bay, part of the Fraser River Delta; the Delta is a Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar site) and one of Canada’s top-rated Important Bird Areas.
A Rocha Canada has taken a watershed approach to improve the management, protection and restoration of ecosystem function and species at risk populations through collaborative conservation actions and the development of a Watershed Stewardship Plan. The Plan, developed with input from multiple stakeholders, spatially delineates priority habitats for protection or restoration, outlines monitoring plans for multiple species at risk, assigns roles and responsibilities of partners to implement the plan, and proposes goals and timelines to protect or restore target amounts of habitat on a watershed scale. Since this is a transboundary watershed, extending into Washington State and crossing multiple jurisdictions within Canada, A Rocha is uniquely positioned to help facilitate collaborative initiatives in partnership with multiple stakeholders, community members and decision makers throughout the watershed.
This presentation highlights a few examples of collaborative projects within the LCR watershed, including showcasing the Watershed Stewardship Plan, and a report card to communicate and monitor watershed health over time.
Comments
Author Information: Christy Juteau, RPBio
A Rocha Canada’s Stewardship Co-ordinator, Christy is a professional biologist interested in seeing on-the-ground conservation and restoration of ecosystems through partnerships and effective projects. She has a diploma of technology in Renewable Resource Management (BCIT) and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science (RRU). Most of her work over the past ten years has focused on watershed restoration and research in the south coast of BC. Specifically, projects have involved riparian restoration, urban watershed assessment, invasive species, water quality, and fisheries management in small lakes. She is part of the Shared Waters Alliance – an international working group to protect water quality in Boundary Bay. Christy knows the Little Campbell Watershed well as she helped lead a watershed characterization and bacteriology study during her work with the BC Ministry of Environment and continues to work towards conservation of this watershed from a non-profit stewardship perspective with A Rocha Canada.