The board of the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust has announced the recipients for this year's Call for Projects.
Some $72,849 has been contributed to local initiatives through its 2014 call.
Rebecca Hurwitz, the CBT's Managing Director, said that 29 applications were submitted and the $60,000 budgeted for the Call for Projects was distributed to 18 successful projects.
Applications are reviewed by the four CBT Advisory Committees, who then make recommendations to the Board. These recommendations were reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors at the April 8 board meeting.
"The board would like to thank the CBT's advisory committees for their hard word in reviewing the applications," said Hurwitz.
Volunteers on the four advisory committees - Community Development; Culture and Events; Research and Environment; and Youth and Education - are made up of people from throughout the Biosphere Reserve Region.
"Input from the advisory committees makes the process run smoothly," said Hurwitz. "The Board has confidence that the right questions have been asked."
For the 2014 Call for Projects, applicants were asked to be innovative and creative, she said.
"We were pleased to see some exciting new projects come forward," said Hurwitz. "From helping to restore wild salmon to recording and preserving traditional knowledge, we are always inspired by the creativity and dedication of local communities and organizations."
The organization received 29 funding requests for an ask of $160,000. Of those, 18 received funding.
"There's always more good ideas than there is funding. We really try to focus on the long-term benefits of the project and prioritize the funding to those areas," Hurwitz said.
They were also able to leverage Decoda funding through the CFRC West Coast Dual Language Program, which bumped the total up to $68,000.
The news that they received over $4,000 for Phase 2 of the Children's Interpretive Signage at Big Beach Park delighted the Wild Pacific Trail Society, said Barbara Schramm.
"This will allow the trail society (who is also funding the project) to create 3 new displays to include a rotating species at risk puzzle cylinder, a scavenger hunt display on a huge log cross-section and a interpretation of the shipwreck on the trail," she said.
Here's a listing of projects that received CBT funding this round.
BC SPCA - CARE Network - Humane education and training around animal care for West Coast communities -$3,159.
Parenting Resource Development Project/Coastal Family Resource Coalition -Create a culturallyappropriate collection of parenting resources for the West Coast.
The collection will be available to all communities and accessible on-line -$5,000.
Peacemaking Circle -Westcoast Community Resources Society. Westcoast Restorative Justice will organize and run peacemaking circles at Maaqtusiis Secondary School in Ahousaht. This will include staff training in restorative justice practices and facilitation -$5,558.
Robin Hood Program, Westcoast Community Resources Society -Project that helps build financial management skills. The four month program offers low-income women financial education, employability skills and an opportunity to build savings -$2,349. Community Resilience Project, Royal Roads University -Revisit the outcomes of the Ucluelet Community Vision Project (1999) and explore the question, 'What did we achieve towards our holistic community vision in the last 15 years?" Using community dialogue, interviews, storytelling and narrative analysis to explore the vision of the project and where we are today -$3,000.
Interactive Cultural Components of 2014 Cultural Heritage Festival -Pacific Rim Arts Society. Support for the Cultural Heritage Fair: interpretive talks around fishing history; photography exhibits of local fishing fleet plus storytelling; film footage and historical video of historical fishing practices; interactive visual arts show with "artists in action." -$5,000.
muulmuums nanaiqsu: the roots of our ancestors, University of Victoria -Project to research, document and revitalize connections with traditional territories. Conversations with elders and traditional knowledge-keepers; redesignate traditional place names; use video and digital storytelling to documents trips to these sites -$5,250.
Raincoast Re-Skilling Festivals -Raincoast Education Society. Hold re-skilling festivals in Tofino and Ucluelet. Showcase a variety of skillsets and trades that increase the resiliency, independence and self-reliance of West Coast communities. $2,000.
Big Beach Children's Interpretive Walk - Phase Two, Wild Pacific Trail Society. Design and installation of three interpretive/interactive displays suitable for children up to 12 years of age -$4,800. Pacific Ocean Stewardship Training -The Wilderness Retreat Society. Have nine youth from throughout the region attend Copper Island Adventure Learning to learn about seafood harvest, marine safety and leadership. $4,400. Wild Pacific Trail Interpretive Program, Wild Pacific Trail Society -Design and deliver an interpretive program that engages visitors and residents -$4,133.
Monitoring and Stewardship for Amphibians and Wetland Habitats -Association of Wetland Stewards for Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds. Engage local community members in monitoring amphibians, testing the effectiveness of different fencing material to reduce road mortality, and promoting awareness of invasive bullfrogs -$6,500.
Clayoquot Salmon Roundtable, West Coast Aquatic. Identify factors limiting wild chinook salmon in six major chinook-bearing watersheds in CS; rank factors as having a high-to low-impact; use ranking to develop a chinook recovery action plan for CS. Process will be repeated for wild sockeye and chum -$4,000.
An Inventory of Clayoquot Sound Mineral Tenures, Fair Mining Collaborative -Conduct a survey of mining tenures in Clayoquot Sound, including tenure details, tenure owner and claim history -$2,400.
Raincoast Radiation Monitoring Program, Raincoast Education Society -Partner with UVic and Cal State, Long Beach, UC Berkley to be part of an international network designed to determine the extent of possible radionuclide contamination of west coast kelp forest ecosystems (Kelp Watch program) -$5,550.
Sea Lion Disentanglement, Vancouver Aquarium -Conduct four surveys to locate and photograph entangled sea lions in Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds which will trigger a disentanglement response by the Vancouver Aquarium's sea lion disentanglement program -$4,500.
Little Toquaht Chum Transplant, Thornton Creek Enhancement Society -Work to bring back a nearly extirpated run of chum salmon. Seine netting, brushing access trail, stream assessment, egg take -$2,497.
Tofino Stream Monitoring and Restoration, Central Westcoast Forest Society -Continue monitoring MacKenzie, Jensen's Bay, Tonquin and Centennial Creeks to measure water quality, fish presence, and to evaluate instream and riparian habitat -$2,753.
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