Protecting Biodiversity and Wildlife Corridors in the South Okanagan

Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA)

The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization, governed by an elected Board of Directors, who represent and support business and community tourism interests throughout the Thompson Okanagan region.

This project aims to establish a comprehensive connectivity initiative in the South Okanagan that will bring all parties together to identify key ecological corridors that are critical for the long-term survival of our fish, wildlife and indigenous plants. The project will assist in setting policy and best practices for land use planning and help inform land stewardship, protection measures, and habitat restoration for conservation organizations. The project builds on the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy for the South Okanagan and advances collaboration between syilx communities and all levels of government, academia and environmental NGOs. This project is being lead by the Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Program (OCCP).

This project is the first year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $40,000.00 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund in 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.

The 10,000 Wetlands Initiative (Beaver-Based Restoration) at Park Rill Creek

B.C. Wildlife Federation

The B.C. Wildlife Federation British Columbia’s leading conservation organization, made up of volunteers who aim to protect, enhance and promote the wise use of our environment for the benefit of present and future generations. We advocate for anglers, hunters, outdoor recreationists, firearms owners, and recreational shooters. The B.C. Wildlife Federation strives to ensure the sound long-term management of B.C.’s fish, wildlife, and outdoor recreational resources in the best interests of all British Columbians. 

As part of the larger B.C. Wildlife Federation (BCWF) 10,000 Wetlands project, this project aims to restore 1,000 m² of critical floodplain and 1 km of stream habitat using low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) techniques at Park Rill Creek. From 2025 to 2028, the BCWF and its partners, including Nature Trust of BC, will install at least five beaver dam analogues (BDAs) and post-assisted log structures (PALS), restoring the degraded stream reach, increasing hydrological resilience by slowing the stream flow, enhancing its capacity to retain water during dry periods, creating rearing habitat and refugia for fish, and improving floodplain connectivity (Bouwes et al., 2016; Weber et al., 2017). Knowledge-sharing and capacity-building with First Nations, NGOs, academia, government agencies, and landowners is integral to the project’s success and as such, includes a workshop on LTPBR techniques and collaborative effectiveness monitoring to ensure long-term success.

This project is the first year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $30,747.80 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund in 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.

Lot 280 Wetland Restoration Project

The Nature Trust of British Columbia

The Nature Trust of British Columbia is a leading non-profit land conservation organization. We protect and care for B.C.’s most critical habitats for vulnerable wildlife, fish and plants. Since 1971, The Nature Trust and our partners have saved more than 180,000 acers (73,000 hectares) of land.

This multi-year project aims to restore the ecological function of a drained field and ditch, contributing to aquifer recharge, mitigating downstream erosion caused by fast-moving flows through the straightened ditch, and providing critical wetland habitat refugia for multiple wildlife species in this arid region. The White Lake Basin is one of the largest intact grasslands in the South Okanagan and supports approximately 57 provincially and federally listed species at risk, including the federally endangered little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), tiger salamander (Ambystoma mavortium), great basin spadefoot (Spea intermontana), and western rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus), all which are designated as species of special concern within the province. This project is in cooperation with the B.C. Wildlife Federation (BCWF), Penticton Indian Band, and the Lower Nipit Improvement District (LNID) on this wetland restoration project located at NTBC’s White Lake Basin Biodiversity Ranch-legally described as district Lot 280

This project is the first year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $75,000.00 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund in 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.

Coteay Creek Beaver Dam Analogue Project

Okanagan Nation Alliance

Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) formed in 1981 as the inaugural First Nations government in the Okanagan and among other functions, works to provide technical fisheries assistance for the Nation and its eight member communities, including the Penticton Indian Band, and acting as a liaison between federal and provincial fisheries agencies and other non-government organizations.

The South Okanagan has recently faced record-setting heat and drought conditions as a result of climate change, challenges which may be partly mitigated by the construction of beaver dam analogues (BDAs): small, temporary, hand-built structures that mimic the form and function of natural beaver dams. They slow the flow of water downstream, moderating floods and droughts; they trap sediment, halting stream incision; they raise the water table, reversing wetland and riparian decline; and they are associated with enhanced aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. Installation of 10-35 BDAs in the Coteay Creek watershed will mitigate impacts of climate change, wildfires, logging, and historic over-hunting of beavers, and will restore wetland and riparian habitat with the hope of attracting beavers who will then maintain the dam complexes on a longer-term basis. This project is in cooperation with the British Columbia Wildlife Federation

This project is the first year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $70,122.99 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund in 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.

Students Plant for the Future

Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society (OASISS)

Established in 1996 the Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society (OASISS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention, detection, and management of invasive species in the Okanagan-Similkameen.

Residents of the South Okanagan will be educated about the impacts of invasive trees and inspired to take action to remove and replace them with ecologically suitable species. Baseline inventories of invasive trees will be established within priority locations and demonstration sites will be created. Opportunities to strengthen local government legislation, policies and management practices relating to invasive trees will be explored.

This project is the first year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $47,738.75 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund for 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.

Post-wildfire recovery at Sage & Sparrow Conservation Area through fencing and invasive plant management

Nature Conservancy of Canada

NCC is Canada’s leading land conservation organization, working to protect Canada’s most important natural areas and the species they sustain. Since 1962, NCC and its partners have helped to protect 2.8 million acres, coast to coast with 1 million acres conserved in British Columbia since 1974. NCC has been active in the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen since 2002. Since that time, NCC has secured 4350 acres of high priority habitat by working with private landowners and has provided funding to other land trusts and the province to enable them to secure 6800 acres of high priority ecosystems.

The goal of this project is to help the Sage and Sparrow Conservation Area recover following the 2023 Eagle Bluff Wildfire that burned the entirety of the conservation area. The objectives of this project are to replace fencing that was lost in the fire and is needed to control human and livestock trespass into the recovering, sensitive ecosystem and to implement increased invasive plant management to help prevent the spread of invasive plants within this disturbed landscape. This project aims to promote post-wildfire recovery of the Sage and Sparrow Conservation Area to maintain the rich biodiversity that this landscape has to offer.

This project is the first year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $50,000.00 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund in 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.

Farming with Wildlife

Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society

Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society has been working with local community members for over 20 years. OSSS helps people care for important natural areas by providing information and ways to coexist with wildlife, and assisting landowners to steward natural areas on their properties while maintaining their farms, ranches, vineyards or other land uses.

Within the South Okanagan valley, two notable changes in the area over the last 30 years are the decline in cattle ranching and the boom of the wine industry. In addition, there is a trend to maximizing the economic potential of every type of land. Together, this results in more intensive and sterile-to-wildlife agriculture, which causes to wide-scale habitat loss. Edge-to-edge agriculture has become the norm and has fewer opportunities and more barriers to wildlife than traditional orchards. Farmers may be reluctant to engage in implementation of nature-based solutions that do not also benefit their bottom line. Further, time is a non-renewable resource; relevant, specific training opportunities are more effective in achieving on-the-ground outcomes for conservation.

This project is the second year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $35,752.50 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund in 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.

Students Plant for the Future

Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society (OASISS)

Established in 1996 the Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society (OASISS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention, detection, and management of invasive species in the Okanagan-Similkameen.

Students in the South Okanagan will learn about locally important grassland, shrub-steppe and riparian ecosystems and the negative impacts of invasive plants on these habitats. Over a three-year period, youth from School Districts #67 and #53 will be directly involved in planning, implementing, and monitoring invasive plant removal and indigenous plant restoration projects. Up to 2 hectares will be restored as students learn the value of being land stewards of local environments through place-based learning.

This project is the second year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $19,695.00 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund for 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.

Okanagan River Restoration Initiative – Okanagan Falls Restoration

Okanagan Nation Alliance

Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) formed in 1981 as the inaugural First Nations government in the Okanagan and among other functions, works to provide technical fisheries assistance for the Nation and its eight member communities, including the Penticton Indian Band, and acting as a liaison between federal and provincial fisheries agencies and other non-government organizations.

This project will restore a uniform, channelized river section in Okanagan Falls by backwatering one or more of the four vertical drop structures with nature–like river features and re-engaging historic floodplain habitat downstream, in the Vaseux-Bighorn National Wildlife Area. Main goals: 1) restore diversity, complexity, and functionality of ~20,000m2 of riverine habitat in the Okanagan mainstem, 2) re-engage and enhance ~50,000m2 historic floodplain habitat, and 3) follow a syilx TEKK-based vision combined with western science tools to achieve goals. This project takes an ecosystem-based approach, targeting multiple species including Chinook Salmon, Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel, Yellow Breasted Chat, Western Screech-Owl, and Blotched Tiger Salamander, among others.

This project is the second year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $51,247.98 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund in 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.

Fairview Antelope-brush Restoration Project

The Oliver and District Heritage Society

The Oliver and District Heritage Society (ODHS) operates both the Museum and Archives facilities in the town of Oliver, B.C; located on the unceded traditional and ancestral territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation.  Incorporated August 6, 1980, as the Oliver Heritage Society, the name was changed in 1998 to the “Oliver and District Heritage Society” to reflect the welcome support from the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen and the Town. The Oliver & District Heritage Society is a not-for-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors. They preserve and present the history of Oliver BC; Canada’s Wine Capital, and surrounding district through exhibits, educational programming, special events, heritage walking tours, and more.

The Oliver and District Heritage Society (ODHS), as the newly appointed organization responsible for maintaining the historic Fairview townsite, wish to steward this site according to educational, historical and ecosystem values. A key aspect of its stewardship vision is to protect, enhance and educate the public about the 70 acres of globally imperiled and provincially red-listed Antelope-brush/needle-and-thread grass habitat on this site.

This project is the second year of a 3-year request. Approved by Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $36,091.50 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund in 2025. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2026.