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“Over 80% of the Englishman River watershed is dedicated to forest management. Applying a landscape level approach makes a working forest work for multiple values. Hydrology and ecology values are managed through conservation agreements, land sales, and cooperation with researchers and communities. A guiding objective is to ‘keep sediment out of streams’,” states Domenico Iannidinardo, Vice-President, Forest & Sustainability and Chief Forester for Mosaic.

“Sustainable water management is a central concern and focus of the work of FLNRORD, as we see the increasing effects of seasonal floods and drought that are predicted to increase as a result of a climate change,” stated Neil Goeller. “The 2019 water symposium will showcase approaches to land use planning, and maintenance and restoration of watershed function that can mitigate negative impacts, while drawing on the shared efforts of government and community to successfully face these challenges.”

“The issues around effective water management, and certainly as it pertains watershed planning and restoration efforts, aligns well with fisheries conservation and management considerations, including long-term water security and allocation, habitat productivity and ecosystem resiliency, and implications for Government and community-supported stock enhancement efforts,” stated Nick Leone. “Fostering improved partnerships, collaboration and data/information exchange, in addition to sharing of technical and management innovations is of particular importance .”

“With ongoing education, partnership and collaboration, we will positively transform people’s outlook to realize the connection wild Pacific salmon have with everything that is British Columbia,” stated Jim Shinkewski. “The Pacific Salmon Foundation is pleased to support this symposium as it is well connected to our mission of salmon conservation and watershed health. It is a good opportunity to empower the stewardship community to address current and future challenges related to a changing climate and to celebrate past accomplishments in this area.”

“Through innovative storm water management approaches in urban areas that mitigate the impacts of development on natural hydrology, the development community can play a strong role, but only with broader support of the community. Dialogue is the key to any strategy and this symposium creates the opportunity for discussions that create the energy, and understanding, in the community to provide direction to current and future policy makers,” stated Bill Derby.

“We are pleased to lend our support to the education and advancement of watershed stewardship on Vancouver Island through the efforts of local and provincial partners for the symposium in Parksville,” stated Nigel Gray, Principal Planner. “Environmental stewardship and natural systems based land development are key components to our approach to our land use planning and landscape architecture service areas. It is our hope that the Parksville 2019 Symposium will affect the further evolution of local policy development and regulatory frameworks in the mid-island region.”

“Parksville 2019 is a valuable initiative, and REFBC is pleased to help make it possible,” stated Jack Wong. “We’re particularly interested in the symposium’s focus on the connections between ‘land and water’. By supporting better land use decisions and educating leaders on restorative land development, the Symposium demonstrates leadership and innovation.” Financial support from the REFBC will substantially subsidize the registration for members of the stewardship sector. This would make Parksville 2019 financially accessible to a key audience.