B.C.'s Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Randene Neill and Kelowna MP Stephen Fuhr were in Kelowna on July 9 to tour the Okanagan Mountain Wildlife Corridor in Black Mountain Regional Park.
Fuhr, on behalf of Canada's Minister for Parks Canada Steven Guilbeault, announced $5.3 million in federal funds to support an agreemetn to advance ecological corridor projects, nature conservation and Indigneous Stewardship in B.C.
Minister Neill followed up with an announcement of an additional $3 million in funding from the province, for a total of $8.3 million.
"It's part of the tripartite agreement on nature that was signed a few years ago," Neill said. "That was the first g-to-g-to-g - federal, provincial, national government agreement." The corridor also falls in line with both the federal and provincial government commitments to protect 30 per cent of lands and water by 2030.
Westbank First Nations Councillor Jordan Coble said the corridor is a good step in the right direction.
"Creating a corridor so that animals can continue to move helps the ecosystem as a whole," Coble explained. "It helps spread seeds of plants used for both food and medicine."
"It also reminds us as human beings that we have a responsibility to make sure that we embrace nature, that we embrace the natural ecosystems that are here and the animals that make it what it is."
Kelowna MP Stephen Fuhr was also on the tour.
The group embarked on the tour around 1 p.m. from the Swainson Trailhead.
Learn more about the wildlife corridor by visiting okcp.ca.
