Expert Sandra Postel calls for protection of Canada's freshwater resources
We started with a two-day workshop, where our team discussed a science-policy framework that could be used to protect environmental flows nationally. We were joined by some of the leading experts in the freshwater field, including people from both the science and the policy worlds. The feedback from the workshop was very positive, and has given us some good insight into both the challenges and opportunities that the WWF freshwater team will face as we begin our national Living Rivers campaign.
To take advantage of having all of these freshwater experts in Ottawa, we then held a reception in conjunction with the All Party International Conservation Caucus of Canada on Parliament Hill. This provided MPs and senators the opportunity to mingle with our expert group, and help them to understand the importance of protecting environmental flows in Canada’s rivers. A good number of MPs turned up for this event and overall we were very pleased with the guest turnout and their enthusiasm for this topic.
Emily and a special guest at the reception (c) Emily Giles/WWF-Canada
The highlight of the evening was hearing the keynote address from world renowned water expert Sandra Postel. She delivered a powerful talk on the importance of protecting our freshwater resources for the benefit of species, ecosystems, and humans. Stay tuned for another blog post in the coming weeks, where we’ll share the video of Sandra’s speech – I’m thrilled, as I’m sure everyone will learn something and be inspired by her words.
A big thank you to everyone who helped us to make this event a success! To our panda team who came together and helped with all of the logistics, and to my Uncle Terry for donating beer from his local brewery, Perth Brewing Company, for the reception. Of course our donors are the ones who make these events possible, so thank you to the John and Pat McCutcheon Charitable Foundation and the RBC Foundation whose generosity made this event a success.
