Tuesday, November 24, 2020
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Register here
Islands Trust invites the public to their upcoming Eelgrass: A Climate Hero webinar, free to all on the evening of November 24. Presenters Aimee McGowan and Victoria Postlethwaite, both graduates of Simon Fraser University’s Resource and Environmental Management master’s program, and Nikki Wright, Executive Director of SeaChange Marine Conservation Society, will guide participants through the vital relevance of eelgrass to the Islands Trust Area. The Islands Trust Area is comprised of 13 major islands and more than 450 smaller islands covering 5,200 square kilometres in the Salish Sea.
Webinar attendees will learn about the benefits of Zostera marina – which include commercial benefits to our fisheries and tourism sectors among many others. The presentation will also cover how best to care for eelgrass meadows in local communities, so that those benefits are not lost.
Specifically, attendees will close the evening with a deeper understanding of:
• Top benefits that eelgrass, the little-known hero plant, provides to the marine ecosystem
• Blue carbon and the role it plays in climate change mitigation strategies
• Simple things that Trust Area community members and others can do to restore and protect eelgrass meadows
“This is the third webinar offered in our climate action speaker series, and we hope everyone will enjoy it,” said Islands Trust Council Chair and cold-water scuba diver Peter Luckham. “I can tell you first hand that eelgrass is fascinating, from its role sequestering blue carbon to acting as a nursery for countless sea stars, nudibranchs, and fish within the Trust Area and in coastal communities around the world.”
The webinar will take place online via Zoom Videoconferencing on Tuesday, November 24, from 6:30 – 8:00 pm; to register, go to https://bit.ly/3lPzjNK
Two other webinars in the climate action speaker series are:
Rainwater Harvesting – watch the recording at https://bit.ly/3iFNB0y
Ecosystem-based Adaptation – watch the recording at https://bit.ly/3kgOTzZ