The Municipality of North Cowichan’s forestry department has received a $10,000 grant to help fund continued sensitive ecosystem work assessments and mapping within the Municipal Forest Reserve.
This opportunity is possible because of the Coastal Douglas-fir Conservation Partnership.
Through partners at the British Columbia Conservation Foundation, the municipality signed an agreement with Environment and Climate Change Canada to implement the Pan-Canadian Approach to Transforming Species at Risk Conservation in Canada in Priority Places in the Southwest B.C.
The objective of the program is to shift from a single-species approach to one that focuses on multiple species and ecosystems at risk.
Funding is sourced from the federal government and matched at an equal rate by CDFCP members.
“I am very excited that North Cowichan received this grant,” said Mayor Al Siebring.
“This funding will allow us to continue impactful sensitive eco-system work in our MFR.”
North Cowichan was awarded this grant as a “priority place”, which is defined by the federal government as an area of high biodiversity value that is seen as a distinct place with a common ecological theme by the people who live and work there.
The additional data gathered from sensitive ecosystem assessments will further expand the information that the UBC Partnership Group can draw on as they continue their work on the MFR technical review.
Through the remainder of the program, the CDFCP aims to continue accessing funds to promote and implement conservation and stewardship with a focus on local governments and private land stewardship.
“We would like to thank the CDFCP and ECCC for this funding opportunity and are looking forward to continuing to work with them in the future,” said North Cowichan’s municipal forester Shaun Mason.
