Seven young men and women from across British Columbia left on Aug. 2, on the trip of a lifetime down the Fraser River.
During their adventure through the river’s lower stretches they will make a stop at the Langley-Abbotsford boder for a tour of Glen Valley Organic Farm.
Here, they will learn about sustainable agriculture in a region that boasts some of the best soil in the country. They will see firsthand the impacts of urban development on the river.
The program’s founder, Fin Donnelly, has swum the Fraser River twice to raise awareness about river ecosystems, and what can be done to protect them.
“There’s no better way to learn about sustainability than to be out there in the environment, on the river, going from community to community and witnessing the issues,” said Donnelly, who also serves as MP for New Westminster, Coquitlam and Port Moody.
The seven were selected to take part in the Sustainable Living Leadership Program, a 25 day journey by canoe, raft and foot from the Fraser River’s headwaters near Mount Robson to where it meets the shores of Vancouver some 1,400 km away.
The program is run by the not-for-profit Rivershed Society of BC with the goal of fostering sustainable living and responsible community and resource development.
Participants convene in Mount Robson Provincial Park, near Valemount, where the Fraser River, and their journey, begins. Now in its ninth year, the program has developed an incredible curriculum.
In the Fraser Canyon, they learn about the importance of the Fraser for fishing and water in the dry interior plateau. Participants stay at a traditional First Nations village, visit sites that have been used as summer camps by First Nations for centuries, witness salmon dip-netting techniques, and see a demonstration by the DFO.