INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE SALMON: Reconnect People, Fish, Land and Water – a unifying theme for module #3 in the Watershed Moments Virtual Symposium (livestreamed on YouTube; December 3, 2020)
Note to Reader:
In 2020, COVID changed and challenged how we do outreach and peer-based education. Now both must be done virtually. Thus, the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia and our collaborators moved well beyond a Zoom webinar to create Watershed Moments, the Video Trilogy Series.
In fact, the trilogy is a set of documentaries that bring in elements of a TED Talk. The finale in the series was built around the International Year of the Salmon. This multi-year program is not just about fish. It is about humankind creating sustainable landscapes for people and salmon
For the first time in decades, the stars are in alignment. Will a new generation of researchers, managers and conservationists be inspired to take the baton and collaborate?
A ‘once in a lifetime’ moment has coincided with a ‘once in a generation’ moment. Did you know that the ‘salmon crisis’ of the 1990s galvanized federal-provincial action, cross-border collaboration, and pioneer research? Will lightning strike twice? Will the call to action to reconnect people, fish, land and water resonate and reverberate far and wide in the age of COVID?
For the first time in decades, our federal and provincial governments have committed both money and time to the International Year of the Salmon. The program has grown into an effort to ensure the resilience of both salmon and people. The program is multi-year.
To Learn More:
Visit the homepage for the 2020 Watershed Moments Virtual Symposium
Watch the Video as Livestreamed on YouTube on December 3, 2020
What Do You Wonder?
Who are Kim Hyatt, Peter Tschaplinski, Neil Goeller and Nick Leone? What roles do they play within senior government agencies? What is the source of passion for each? How have their life experiences shaped their thinking about restoration of altered landscapes? Why do they believe that the International Year of the Salmon is a “once in a generation” moment to inspire and mobilize communities, apply science-based understanding, and reconnect hydrology and ecology?
So, what is this federal-provincial team’s key message? “We have the thinking figured out. We can take lessons learned and bring them back to our regional and local context, and inspire people to do better.”
