B.C. says it will commit $6.5 million in funding over the next three years to restore caribou habitat.
The funds will be divvied out to qualifying groups through the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF), the provincial government said in an information bulletin released Wednesday (Oct. 16).
“Human influence on the landscape - including forestry, mining and roadbuilding - has altered caribou habitat,” the statement reads. “Projects pursued under the fund will focus on restoring habitat through both functional and ecological approaches.”
Restoration activities could include tree planting, spreading coarse woody debris, or installing fences along linear disturbances, and encouraging native plants and trees that support the return of caribou habitat to its undisturbed state.
The HCTF is accepting applications for project proposals until Friday, Nov. 1 at 4:30 p.m.
The province says $2 million in funding supported 11 caribou habitat restoration projects in 2018.
This includes two herds that were displaced by wildfires in the Bulkley-Nechako region via the Society for Ecological Restoration in Northern B.C. (SERN BC).
- with files from Matt Preprost, Alaska Highway News
