Join Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society (FoKLSS) and Kootenay Native Plant (KNPS) Society to celebrate the beauty and resilience of wetlands and pollinator habitats in the Kootenay region, while highlighting local, community-led conservation efforts.

Celebrate the wetlands that feed Kootenay Lake, with films that highlight local wildlife, water, and the people working to protect these ecosystems.

The evening will begin with Kootenay Native Plant Society (KNPS) sharing highlights from the Milkweed & Monarchs (M&Ms) program, a locally driven, community-based effort to support the endangered Western Monarch butterfly. The presentation will explore what KNPS has learned through years of research on wild Showy Milkweed populations and the creation of the Nelson Monarch Waystation, and how these collaborative projects are helping to design and create safe havens here in the Kootenays that connect fragmented habitats along the Monarchs’ migration route, while building momentum to expand local pollinator stewardship into the future.

Following this portion, the event will transition into a selection of short films exploring wetland ecology, restoration, and stewardship. — Touring through Kootenay and coastal BC ecosystems, powerful visuals and storytelling invite audiences to deepen their appreciation of wetlands and the vital role they play in supporting biodiversity, water quality, and climate resilience.

Tickets

Film Program Guide

Wetland Conservation through Private Land Stewardship in the Kootenays

(BC Wildlife Federation Watershed Team)

A detailing of a local initiative that involves restoration on private land, where individual landowners can play a critical role in regional conservation.

Phantom Orchid: The Ghost Flower

(Wilderness Committee)

This film showcases the plight of this endangered species, and of a property owner determined to preserve his land for the sake of nature…and for the orchid.

The Wetlands

(Norm Allard & Real Estate Foundation of BC)

Featuring one of largest wetland project in Canada, Norm Allard an his team share about their restoration in Yaqan Nukiy. This project is fully Indigenous Led, with their values and world views heavily utilized in the design work.

Riparian Restoration 

(Walter Clough Wildlife Sanctuary & Slocan River Stream Keepers)

This film is about the Slocan River Streamkeepers’ riparian restoration work at a site known locally as the Bird Sanctuary. The project that aims to reduce bank erosion, and create long-term wildlife habitat.

Snk’mip Dig Deeper

(Haven for Ecology)

Highlighting a large scale restoration on the north end of Slocan lake, at the Snk’mip wetlands. The film also explores deeper conflicts between colonial land ownership and Indigenous law, and nature-first values.