Howe Sound Biosphere Society
Grant Program: Give Where You Live 2023
Funded by: Public donations and matched by Ian and Rosemary Mottershead Fund
Átl’ka7tsem / Howe Sound Biosphere is Canada’s 19th UNESCO Biosphere Region. Biosphere Regions are areas of global ecological significance, that make an ongoing commitment to the United Nations to strive for sustainability.
With the help of the grant received through the Give Where You Live program, work was carried out to clean up marine debris in the region. Marine Debris is an ongoing problem. Howe Sound continues to be stewarded by many people to ensure marine debris is reported and cleaned up. This fund was intended to reimburse costs for medium-sized debris, such as large pieces of styrofoam, styrofoam filled tires, pieces of docks, and remains of wrecked boats.
Many volunteers and partner staff time worked hard to fill large barges for removal and disposal at the Ocean Legacy facility. The Give Where You Live campaign was instrumental in raising awareness of the need to report and problem-solve the removal.
Success Story:
There was a disgusting dock in Howe Sound that the owner had hauled out and demolished in March 2023. It now has a happy ending. Partner, Ocean Legacy hauled away all of the plastic and Styrofoam debris that hadn’t been dealt with. They even had room on the barge for a derelict boat. This is a good news story of industry supporting and collaborating to clean up the environment and the partnership and collaboration of our team and partners to get it cleaned up.
