Reflecting on the 2026 Annual Restoration Community of Practice Workshop & Conference
Oct 27, 2026
Together, we
- co-authored resources to streamline our work;
- collaborated in breakout sessions to learn new skills and add tools to our shared toolbox;
- coached our peers to remove project-specific bottlenecks;
- innovated new ways to fund and permit restoration implementation;
- debated standards and practices to limit the need for post hoc and ex-situ restoration;
- created and maintained the relationships that enable collaboration;
- learned with and from world-class speakers in interdisciplinary knowledge exchange sessions; and
- shared successes and failures to improve our collective efficacy at planning, implementing, and monitoring restoration.
Centering Gratitude
T'oyaxsut 'nüüsm to Gits’ilaasü (Kitselas) and Gits’mḵ’eelm (Kitsumkalum) Galts'aps as we gathered on the unceded Laxyuup of the Ts'msyen Nation.
Thank you to all of our event sponsors. These events are only free of charge because of your generosity.
- Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund via the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF)
- SERNbc
- Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program - who would still love your input on their draft funding priorities in the Peace and Coastal regions
- Forests Canada
- Aleza Lake Research Forest
Thank you to all of the excellent service providers who made this event possible.
Thank you to the conference planning committee who joined in planning and implementing this event.
- Sophia Cuthbert
- Kim Lutz
- Chelsea Regina
Thank you to everyone who attended and shared knowledge, formally, informally, remotely, and with boots on the ground.
"One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds." (Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac)
This community of practice has real communitas and supporting practitioners to maintain connections + enable collaboration is a priority that emerged at our 2025 workshop and continues to focus your organizing team's efforts.
If you took nothing else from the event, remember this:
1. You are not alone.
2. We are stronger together.
3. If we all do a little, we will accomplish a lot.
Let's keep turning ideas into action together and getting "stuff" done!
If your organization would like to be on the CoP organizing team, please get in touch with one of us through our organizations.
The Community of Practice Organizing Team, representing: Society for Ecosystem Restoration in Northern BC (SERNbc), Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund (CHRF) via the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF), Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP), and the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF).
