HCTF is pleased to announce the 2015 Public Conservation Assistance Fund (PCAF) grant recipients.
This year’s approved projects include:
~ The Kootenay Community Bat Project received a $5000 grant to help connect Kootenay residents with bat conservation by providing instruction and materials to build, install and monitor bat?houses. The Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance also received a $1080 grant for the construction and distribution of maternity-sized bat boxes to local land owners.
~ The Salt Spring Island Conservancy received $10,000 to establish a native plant nursery to be used as a source of vegetation for upcoming wetland and riparian restoration work at Blackburn Nature Reserve.
~ Wildsight in the Kootenays received a $5000 grant to build a wetland to filter stormwater outflows and improve water quality in Lakeside Park, Nelson. Students and volunteers will participate in the planning, monitoring and construction of the wetland.
~ Ecole KLO Middle School in Kelowna will use their $10,000 PCAF grant to daylight 250 m of creek and restore a destroyed wetland that historically provided nesting habitat for painted turtles.
~ The North Okanagan Naturalist’s Club received $8000 to support their program to tag and monitor Western Rattlesnakes on the Campbell Brown Ecological Reserve. The PIT tags will help biologists determine the ongoing health of these populations and the effectiveness of a snake fence to reduce road mortalities.
~ The Caledonia Ramblers Trust received a second PCAF grant this year to complete a plank pathway around the Ancient Forest Trail. This pathway will complement the recently completed Universal Boardwalk that provides access to the forest for those visitors in wheelchairs, and others with mobility or mental health challenges, to experience this unique inland temperate rain forest.
In total, twenty-two community-based fish & wildlife projects will receive over $132,000 in grants. You can view the full list of approved PCAF projects here.
PCAF grants are unique among HCTF funding opportunities in that they require projects to include a strong volunteer component that is designed to increase British Columbians’ participation in conservation activities.
Please note: As the spring intake resulted in the Fund being fully subscribed, there will not be a second call for PCAF proposals this September. Your next opportunity to apply for PCAF funding will be May of 2016.
