Salmon will find A Rocha’s Brooksdale Environmental Centre an even more hospitable place thanks to a significant habitat restoration and enhancement project currently underway. In cooperation with biologist Mike Pearson and with funding from the Pacific Salmon Foundation and Vancity enviroFund, A Rocha has created new salmonid rearing areas off of the Little Campbell River, including a new pond, marshland and a connecting channel from a tributary to the river itself. To encourage the flourishing of wildlife, native plant species have been planted and invasives removed. Both the new habitat and restoration of vegetation create conditions more suitable for both juvenile salmonids and the endangered Salish Sucker in this section of the river at different times of year (e.g., winter off-channel habitat and groundwater-fed cool summer low-flow refuge). The second phase of the project will include the installation of a raised boardwalk and viewing platform, giving school children on field trips an up close look at the salmon rearing and thriving in their own “backyard.”
