From Habitat Restoration Planning to Implementation: A Framework to Guide Action
Increasing pressures from climate change, industrial development and economic activity are causing widespread loss and degradation of salmon habitats. These cumulative impacts are contributing to declining salmon populations, making habitat restoration and protection increasingly urgent.
However, many restoration efforts face systemic barriers. Limited capacity within Nations and First Nations organizations, lack of accessible technical tools and insufficient guidance on how to implement restoration projects often make it difficult to prioritize actions effectively. Limited funding and resources continue to challenge the ability to move projects from concept to implementation.
Developing Tools to Guide Habitat Restoration
With multi-year support from the Indigenous Stewardship Fund (ISF), the North Coast Skeena First Nations Stewardship Society (NCSFNSS) is developing a set of practical tools and a decision-making framework to guide salmon habitat restoration planning. Building on years of habitat restoration work across the Skeena watershed, including collaboration with First Nations and regional partners, the project brings together:
- Habitat prioritization tools that use spreadsheet-based scoring to rank restoration projects based on salmon biological status, value to First Nations, habitat condition and project sustainability.
- Cost–benefit analysis methods that use scoring to assess expected benefits, likelihood of success and whether projects are worth the cost.
- A structured decision-making framework that integrates these tools to support transparent, consistent prioritization and guide restoration planning and implementation across different scales.
Together, these components help identify which restoration projects will deliver the greatest benefit to salmon populations and their habitat, while providing clear guidance on where and how restoration efforts should be focused.
Applying Restoration Tools Beyond the Skeena Watershed
Designed to be scalable and adaptable, the tools and framework developed through this project can support restoration planning and implementation in other watersheds across British Columbia (BC). The approach provides structured guidance for identifying and prioritizing restoration opportunities, helping turn restoration plans into actionable projects. By strengthening how projects are selected and justified, these tools also support more effective use of resources, which improves the ability to secure funding. Sharing these tools with other First Nations across BC will strengthen collaboration, improve restoration efforts, and support long-term stewardship of salmon populations.
The Indigenous Stewardship Fund (ISF) works in close partnership with the First Nations Fisheries Council (FNFC), which serves as a frontline organization for collaboration with First Nations across British Columbia. FNFC leads relationship-building and engagement with more than 200 First Nations across the province, listening to and identifying Nations’ interests, priorities and perspectives. ISF complements this work by serving as the funding mechanism that helps turn those relationships and priorities into action. Together, FNFC and ISF ensure that the leadership, needs and priorities of BC First Nations are met with flexible and accessible resources that support Indigenous-led stewardship, habitat protection and long-term environmental resilience.
