“Historically, the Comox Valley was known for its abundance of natural resources; it was the land of plenty.  This was in a large part due to the K’ómoks Estuary. Estuaries are rare and important; 80% of marine species use estuaries at same point in their life-cycle and yet they take up less than 3% of the coastline,” states Caila Holbrook, Project Watershed’s Manager of Fundraising, Outreach and Mapping.

“Estuaries are some of the most productive habitats on Earth and the K’omoks Estuary is a prime example of that. Based on its size, habitat, vegetation, water bird use, shellfish and fin-fish resources (including salmon and herring) the K’ómoks Estuary has been ranked a Class One estuary – a status only eight of the 442 estuaries in British Columbia have attained.

“Pre-1950 aerial photographs confirm that Kus-kus-sum was indeed a forested streamside area in the K’ómoks Estuary with side-channels connecting it to the adjacent Hollyhock Marsh. Habitats like this would have been common in the estuary building redundancy and resilience into this coastal area. They would have provided important resources for plants, fish, birds and other wildlife.  Over 90% of tidally influenced wetland forest has been destroyed along the Pacific coast of North America.  Now many of the species that require this habitat are considered species at risk.

“In 2017, Project Watershed launched a fundraising campaign to purchase the land from Interfor Corporation, the current owners,” reports Caila Holbrook.

“The fundraising has been very successful and a variety of governments, community groups, local businesses and citizens have come together to support this initiative. However, Project Watershed still needs to raise $1 million to complete the acquisition by June 30th, 2020. We are accepting donations online at www.projectwatershed.ca.

“Once acquired, ownership of the land will be transferred to the K’ómoks First Nation and the City of Courtenay establishing an historic relationship between the two governments. The intent of which is to allow for the K’ómoks First Nation to build the capacity needed to become the sole landowners who maintain the property’s conservation values over time. After all, the plethora of First Nation fish traps dating back well over 1000 years in the K’ómoks Estuary substantiates the fact that First Peoples have been stewarding this land for generations.

“Through the restoration of Kus-kus-sum we can reconcile our past with our need to work together to build resilience in the face of global issues such as climate change and species extinction,” concludes Caila Holbrook.

Designed to paint a picture of the 2-day Comox Valley 2020 Water Stewardship Symposium, a series of articles on Waterbucket News delves into the details of the cascading program. The goal is to inform, educate and establish delegate expectations. To learn more, click on the links to the previous articles in the series:

• Backgrounder #1- Comox Valley on Vancouver Island: Incubator Region for Collaboration Precedents (Answers the question – why hold the third in the symposia series in the Comox Valley?)
• Backgrounder #2 – Comox Valley Conservation Partnership – “One common forum to promote and advocate for innovative local government policies, strategies and initiatives that support transformative change towards environmental sustainability,” wrote David Stapley and Tim Ennis (Context for Day One Modules)
• Backgrounder #3 – FROM ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION TO SUSTAINABLE DELIVERY OF CORE SERVICES: “Natural assets support the delivery of core local government services, while doing so much more” (Module F on Day Two)
• Backgrounder #4 – An ‘Actionable Vision’ translates good intentions into practices on the ground: It’s driven by leadership that mobilizes people and partnerships, a commitment to ongoing learning and innovation, and a budget to back it up (Module E for Day Two)
• Backgrounder #5 – A ‘once in a generation’ window of opportunity: The International Year of the Salmon program has the potential to be a game-changer. It is not just about the fish; it is about humankind creating sustainable landscapes for people and salmon (Module G on Day Two) published on February 25, 2020
• Backgrounder #6 – Implementing Actionable Visions – Are you curious to learn what it means to collaborate to ‘stitch together altered landscapes‘, and thus improve where we live? (Synopsis for Day Two Program on Reconnecting Hydrology and Ecology) published on March 10, 2020

Water, Place and Reconciliation

What is the starting place for our work in water sustainability, landscape scale restoration, collaboration and facing the impacts of a changing climate? It starts with an understanding of the culture, land, water and stories of the places where we do our work.

On Day One, join us for this welcome to the territory of the K’omoks First Nation and an introduction to the exciting projects underway that demonstrate shared commitment.

The Kus-sum-sum project has attracted the attention of, and funding from, BC Premier John Horgan and his provincial government cabinet. Could Kus-sum-sum restoration be a catalyst for a program of stitching together, over time, other altered landscapes in the Comox Valley and beyond?

TO LEARN MORE:

THE PROGRAM HAS 7 MODULES. IF YOU WISH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH, CLICK ON THE LINK TO DOWNLOAD THE COMOX VALLEY 2020 PROGRAM BROCHURE

Visit the Symposium homepage on the waterbucket.ca website.to learn much, much more about the “stories behind the stories”.

ON DAY ONE, delegates will learn about what is happening on the ground to restore ecosystems and build resiliency to climate change in the Comox Valley. Actions and tools that build collaborative working relations between the stewardship, First Nations and local government sectors will be highlighted.