Name: Where Land Meets Water: Why Riparian Areas Matter
Start: 2025-02-24T19:00:00-08:00
Location: VIU Cowichan

Where Land Meets Water: Why Riparian Areas Matter

Learn from local eco-foresters Heather Prichard and Kelly Loch, about the many important jobs that riparian ecosystems do to support healthy environments and communities, and how we can all help!
From ocean shores to headwater creeks, the places where land and water meet are essential for protecting healthy watersheds and aquatic habitats yet are often not understood and appreciated for their vital role. Come to learn how best practices for riparian management can help protect these important spaces and what we can all do collectively as engaged citizens to support the function and beauty of riparian areas.
Meet the Speakers:
Elder T'uwahwiye Mena Williams will start the evening off with a brief welcome, and perhaps a few words from the original language of the Quw'utsun Sta'lo' watershed.
Heather Prichard is a Professional Forester with over 35 years experience working primarily in community forestry, soil conservation, species at risk, and riparian restoration. Originally from Saskatchewan, Alberta, and then the Interior of BC, Heather moved to the Cowichan Valley 10 years ago and is now working as the Research and Restoration Director for the Cowichan Watershed Board. Heather enjoys working with the very knowledgeable and caring people of the Cowichan Valley, looking for solutions for difficult problems associated with land management and finding ways to restore stressed aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Kelly Loch is a Registered Professional Forester with an M.Sc. in Forest Science (Hydrology) from the University of Alberta. As the Green Shores Projects Manager with the Stewardship Centre for BC, she manages all Green Shores project implementation phases, from initial enquiries to certification. She is also a member of the Resilient Coasts For Salmon Project team. This five-year project is a collaboration between the Stewardship Centre and the Pacific Salmon Foundation. It includes community outreach and engagement, Green Shores training, establishing demonstration sites, and shoreline mapping to build public awareness and community capacity to adopt nature-based solutions that support protection and enhancement of riparian areas on marine and lake settings. Kelly is a Green Shores Approved Professional, having completed Green Shores training Levels One, Two and Three. She is also a Green Shores for Homes (GSH) Verifier, A Green Shores Level One and Level Two Instructor, and, as a Green Shores Local Government Working Group member, has expertise in Green Shores Policy and Regulatory Tools for Local Government. Kelly acknowledges with gratitude that she lives and works on the traditional territory of the Quw’utsun First Nation.