This past weekend, 25 participants from across the Boundary gathered in Grand Forks to learn about wetlands and the creatures that live there.
The newly-graduated ‘Wetlandkeepers’ are now equipped to help protect and restore the wetlands in the Boundary.
Participants learned that wetlands are incredibly important for the health of watersheds, as they reduce peak river flows, recharge groundwater, reduce erosion and store water. They remove sediments, trap nutrients, and remove disease-causing organisms, metals, and toxins.
Wetlands also provide prime wildlife habitat for birds, mammals, fish, amphibians and many insects and other invertebrates, as participants learned first-hand with dip-nets and hand lenses.
Yet, wetlands are in big trouble. In many parts of Canada, up to 80 per cent of wetlands have been lost to make room for farming, urban expansion, roads and other types of development.
This has happened because they often occupy prime real estate – level ground, rich soils and proximity to river and harbour settlements.
“It’s a trade-off,” explained Neil Fletcher, wetlands education program co-ordinator for the BC Wildlife Federation. “Gaining agriculture and places to live is important for all of us. But we really need to know what we have lost and how to protect and restore what is left.”
Wetlandkeepers was a free workshop provided by the BC Wildlife Federation to help communities learn about and protect wetlands. The course was taught be a group of instructors including Fletcher and Lisa Tedesco, a habitat biologist with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
The course was hosted by Selkirk College and took place in a college classroom and at the wetlands of Boothman’s Oxbow Provincial Park, east of Grand Forks.
The workshop was initiated by partners at the Christina Lake Stewardship Society, Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, Granby Wilderness Society, Boundary Weed Management Committee and Grand Forks Wildlife Association.