Symposium & Celebration Dinner
Fresh water is life, and its health underpins the economic, ecological, physical, cultural, and spiritual wellbeing of us all. Rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands provide safe, clean water for drinking, growing food, sustaining communities and culture, and powering local economies.
On Thursday, February 23, 2023, over 90 individuals - project team members, First Nations leaders, provincial and local government representatives, and community members - came together to celebrate the outcomes and learnings from the Healthy Watersheds Initiative (HWI) and to celebrate the work being done for British Columbia's watersheds.
The work completed through the HWI - an important investment in watershed security - strengthened the resilience of communities in the face of extreme climate events, created thousands of jobs and training opportunities, supported food security, advanced the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and reconciliation across the province.
Key themes from the day:
Being in relationship as a family – community.
Growing the center – being inclusive and allowing diverse perspectives to co-exist.
Mauri – meaning 'life force' in Māori – of water to be honoured and prioritized above all else.
Interconnections – of water systems and our values – which unite us in protecting and restoring watersheds.
Speakers
Councilor Charlene Aleck, səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation 
Anne Haira, Deputy Secretary, Ministry for Environment, Government of New Zealand 
Leanne Sexsmith, Co-Director, HWI | Director of Strategic Programs and Partnerships, REFBC 
Zita Botelho, Co-Director, HWI | Director Watersheds BC 
Dr. Roger William, Indigenous Leaders Advisory Circle 
Tara Marsden, Former Senior Indigenous Advisor, Healthy Watersheds Initiative 
Mark Gifford, CEO, Real Estate Foundation of BC 
Fin Donnelly, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship 
Lori Halls, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship 
Chief Lydia Hwitsum, Cowichan Tribes 
Hon. Nathan Cullen, Minister, Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship 
Hon. George Heyman, Minister, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
Presentations
You can access the presentations by Anne Haira and Tara Marsden through the links below.
Anne Haira, Deputy-Secretary of Climate Change/Partnerships & Public Affairs of the Ministry for Environment, Government of New Zealand
Tara Marsden, Former Senior Indigenous Advisor, Healthy Watersheds Initiative | UNDRIP Fellow, Real Estate Foundation of BC
Breakout Sessions
During the Symposium, participants had several opportunities to engage in smaller group conversations. The first Breakout Session - Connecting with Others in Thematic Sessions had three concurrent sessions: Advancing UNDRIP in your Work, Technique Talks - The Big, the Small, the Innovations, and Incorporating Intergenerational Learning into Your Watershed Projects.
The Second Breakout Session focused on Connecting with Watershed Peers. These regionally focused discussions centered on learning from each other about the conditions in project team's watershed, successes, and challenges in their HWI work, and sharing current and future priorities for watershed security.
Witness Reflections
Graphic recorder, Michelle Buchholz (Cassyex Consulting) was witness to the conversations of the day. She highlighted the messages and learnings of the day through three illustrations.
The Wetlands | A Short Film
We were honoured to debut the short documentary "The Wetlands" at the Symposium.
Over the past several years, the Yaqan Nukiy Lower Kootenay Band in Creston, BC has undertaken a massive wetland restoration project spanning over 517 hectares. As of 2021, over 121 hectares of the site’s floodplains, wetlands, streams and rivers have been restored and connected for a variety of wildlife species through the Yaqan Nukiy Wetlands Restoration Project.
“The Wetlands” is about creating an introduction to the large scale restoration work underway on Lower Kootenay Band Lands. It can also be used for a teaching primer for life cycles and why restoration work is needed in primary classrooms. Too often it is easy to overwhelm presentations with information and the idea of having a short film to help guide interests was formed.
“The Wetlands” is created by Norm Allard, Community Planner with the Lower Kootenay Band.
Photo Gallery
Photos by Sarah Race Photography
“The work completed under the Healthy Watersheds Initiative has outdone anything we could have imagined. It lit a fire that has burned so brightly beyond anybody's expectations. If anything, this journey has shown that this work is about relationships and our shared value for healthy watersheds. The Symposium and Celebration Dinner was an opportunity to celebrate these relationships, build new ones, and highlight the importance of sustained, coordinated, and shared leadership in the watershed security movement. We are thankful to the HWI project teams, our Indigenous Leaders Advisory Circle, the BC government, First Nations Leaders, the BC Freshwater Legacy Initiative, the Water Security Coalition and its allies, and community partners for working with us to respect and restore the fresh water on which we all depend. This work and the bright future for BC’s watersheds would not have been possible without your remarkable, collective contributions.”
Leanne Sexsmith (REFBC) and Zita Botelho (Watersheds BC), Co-Directors, Healthy Watersheds Initiative
