MÁWUEĆ Restoration

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Phase 1, completed in 2024, restored over 6,000 m² of stream, floodplain, and riparian habitat on the MÁWUEĆ property. Activities included instream restoration, off-channel habitat creation, riparian planting, invasive species removal, and community engagement. Over the next three years, the project will continue restoration efforts, focusing on the stream, wetlands, riparian zones, and Garry oak meadows. This work will reconnect the floodplain to improve hydrological function, enhance habitat complexity for CCT and other native species, and provide spaces for culturally significant plants used in traditional WSÁNEĆ practices.

Preserving Ecosystems, Building Climate Resilience, and Protecting WSÁNEĆ Cultural Practices

The KÉNNES Watershed Restoration Project is a multi-phase initiative led by W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip First Nation) in partnership with Peninsula Streams & Shorelines. It focuses on restoring vital ecosystems, including riparian, wetland, stream, and Garry oak meadow habitats, on the 78-hectare MÁWUEĆ property, recently returned to Tsartlip. The project aims to restore critical habitat for a genetically isolated strain of Coastal Cutthroat Trout (CCT), enhance biodiversity, improve water quality, build climate resilience, and revitalize traditional WSÁNEĆ foods and medicines. These efforts combine ecological restoration with cultural revitalization and community engagement.

Project Goals

  • Ecological: Restore degraded habitats to support native species, improve water quality, and promote ecological resilience.
  • Cultural: Reconnect WSÁNEĆ people with traditional lands, practices, and harvesting opportunities, integrating Indigenous Knowledge.
  • Community: Engage youth and the broader community in hands-on restoration to foster stewardship and shared responsibility.

"The story of MÁWUEĆ, a traditional territory of the Tsartlip First Nation, is one of resilience and determination." - Tsartlip First Nation

Vital Waters: a short film by Surf and Stone Media featuring the restoration of MÁWUEĆ.

Newly planted riparian plants

A Look at the project