B.C. nature corridors get $8 million to help boost protections
B.C. nature corridors get $8 million to help boost protections
B.C. nature corridors get $8 million to help boost protections | The Narwhal
“We’re going to create space for our animals, we’re going to create space for our winged creatures, our plant life and everything else that flows,” [Westbank First Nation Councillor Jordan Coble] said. “We’re committing to that, right here, right now.”
On Wednesday, the B.C. and federal governments announced $8.3 million to support stewardship of ecological corridors in the province, including a long-standing effort to protect a key wildlife corridor in the Okanagan.
For several years, the B.C. and federal governments have been working with Indigenous Nations and conservation groups towards protecting at least 30 per cent of land and waters by 2030 — a commitment Canada made alongside 196 other countries at the global biodiversity conference in Montreal in 2022.
I’ve spent time in sntsk’il’ntən, and one of the things I’ve observed is the amount of orchard and cattle fencing in the area that blocks larger animals from using the obvious corridors. In some places, animals moving through the area would have to climb a significant way up Black Mountain just to get around the fences.
It’s better than nothing, but the corridor definitely doesn’t track the actual traditional routes the animals would choose to take.
That said, the bears still use their old routes and routinely knock over any fences that get in their way, so there is that.