Partnering with entrepreneurship@UBCO and the Okanagan Sustainability Leadership Council (OSLC), the PWPA is preparing a segment as part of a one-hour pre-produced YouTube Live vodcast, scheduled to air on October 21st at 5:00pm. With the working title, Nature-Based Strategies in Sustainable Forestry Practices, the PWPA has engaged noted professional forester Herb Hammond to review the health of Peachland’s watersheds and share his thoughts in the video.
Spoiler alert: After his review, Herb wrote “This is quite a story of ecosystem degradation being ignored and continued despite obvious detrimental changes to ecosystem processes. The story is also a blatant example of putting the short-term needs of industrial development ahead of the ongoing social needs of the Peachland community. In my view, from policy and planning to operations and evaluations, this is a text book example of \”how not to do it\” in watersheds.”
Herb Hammond will also participate in a live Zoom leadership forum following the vodcast that will include show participants and invited guests including the PWPA’s co-founder, Taryn Skalbania. Peachland’s segment also includes Dr Younes Alila, Professor of Forestry at UBC, discussing the critical role intact forests play in withstanding floods, droughts, fires and climate change. The segment concludes with National Geographic educator Lee Humphries, OSLC board member David Jenkins and children discussing their relationship with the forests at Greata Creek Camp.
The full program – Building Okanagan Floor Resilience Utilizing Natural Ecosystems – is the first of three leadership forums in the video series. The next will explore issues related to regional food security and the third will focus on the circular economy. All three programs are based on UBCO and OSLC initiatives.
PWPA will be using the raw footage as well as the final one-hour show, and the vodcast for our own information outreach. Videos will include PWPA\’s logo in the closing credits as a participating organization.