At the April 28th RDOS Planning and Development Committee meeting, Area F Director Michael Brydon made a motion to establish a Conservation Fund that would be a sub-regional service in the South Okanagan. The proposed fund would requisition $10 per household per year on average for a period of five years to support conservation projects. The fund is proposed to be guided by a Technical Committee, and be application-based so organizations could apply to undertake the work. Local government directors would make final decisions on fund allocations.
The motion followed a presentation by SOSCP Program Manager Bryn White, with special guest David Hillary former Program Manager of the Kootenay Conservation Program. Hillary’s presentation highlighted the process of establishing the first Conservation Fund in Canada both in the east and central Kootenays, including the environmental, community and financial benefits such a fund has brought to the region.
The motion for a sub-regional service in the South Okanagan is an invitation to all five electoral areas and four member municipalities, and Brydon’s comments were encouraging an opportunity for the Board to think and act regionally, thereby increasing their total impact by working together.
The motion was brought forward yesterday May 19th at the RDOS Board meeting for agreement, but was removed for consent and deferred to the second Board meeting in June. This provides an opportunity for individual councils to discuss their participation in the proposed sub-regional service, or perhaps an opportunity to establish stand-alone funds of their own.
Let us know what you think – read more and make a comment here http://www.soscp.org/funding-conservation/