Sensitive Ecosystems are ecosystems that are ecologically sensitive and or rare in the landscape. These areas also have significant biodiversity values and provide many habitat features required by threatened and endangered plant and animal species.
Some common ecosystems of the Okanagan-Similkameen include grasslands, wetlands, antelope –brush and sage-brush steppe shrub lands, and sparsely vegetated lands such as talus slopes and cliffs.
Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society (OSS)
Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship is a grassroots environmental non-profit that exists to promote voluntary conservation, stewardship and enhancement of important habitats on private lands and within the communities of the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys.
Contact:
Phone: 250.770.1467
Email: info@osstewardship.ca
Farmers who have an Environmental Farm Plan are serious about learning how to reduce agriculture’s impact on the environment. Many Environmental Farm Plan participants enjoy increased efficiency, profitability and new customers as a result of increased environmental sustainability. What opportunities exist on your farm?
Farmland Advantage is a research and development project that works with farmers to protect and conserve critical, natural values in British Columbia, Canada. We assist hard-working farmers who look after their land, so the land can continue to work hard for us.
Contact:
Dave Zehnder
Email: info@farmlandadvantage.com
Grasslands Conservation Council of BC
For good or ill, humans have the power to support or degrade the vital natural functions that grasslands provide. Sound stewardship and good land management can help. Ignorant policies and practices can destroy. People play a crucial role in protecting the often invisible richness of grassland landscapes.
Holistic Management restores grasslands. Healthy grasslands lead to carbon sequestration, drought resilience, food security, and financially viable communities. At Savory, we believe the solution to these pressing world issues is that management of our land, livestock, and people must be holistic.
Grasslands: More Than Just Grass! : a two page brochure by South Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Program (SOS Stewardship Program)
Grassland Monitoring Manual: A Tool for Ranchers
The Grassland Monitoring Project’s primary purpose is to create a Grassland Monitoring Manual to aid ranchers in assessing the condition and trend of their grassland ranges.
BC Grasslands Stewardship Guide: a 24 page guide for ranchers and recreation users.
Understanding Grasslands: Grasslands Conservation Council’s educational site full of useful information on BC’s grassland ecosystems and the species that inhabit them.
Biodiversity Ranches: The objectives of biodiversity ranches are to protect and restore riparian areas, establish short-term grazing rotation and other conservation practices on Crown range tenures, and to promote scientific research. The primary goal of the biodiversity ranch conservation program is to maintain and restore the grassland ecosystem and associated habitats.
Riparian & Wetlands Publications:
Hand-Built Structures for Restoring Degraded Meadows in Sagebrush Rangelands
Wetland Stewardship Partnership of British Columbia
BC Wildlife Federation Bog Blog
At Home with Wetlands: A Landowner’s Guide (PDF)
Homeowners’ Guide to Wetlands & Buffers (PDF)
Ducks Unlimited Canada: Learn About Wetlands
BC Wetland Trends Project: Okanagan Valley Assessment (PDF)
Okanagan Wetland Plant Species at Risk Fact Sheets
Vulnerability of Wetlands to Climate Change in the Southern Interior Ecoprovince
Field Guide to Wetland and Riparian Species at Risk of the South Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys: 58 page field guide by The Land Conservancy and SOS Stewardship Program.
The Value of Riparian Habitat and How to Care for it: a six page brochure from the SOS Stewardship Society.
Wetland Ways: Interim Guidelines for Wetland Protection and Conservation in BC: a series of guidelines and best practices for wetland conservation, including a chapter on agriculture and wetlands.
