Maplewood Marine Restoration Project - Panel Session

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's Habitat Enhancement Program (HEP) administers the largest habitat bank in Canada, through an agreement with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. This initiative is intended to provide a balance between a healthy environment and future development projects that maybe required for port operations. The program is aligned with the port authority's vision to be the world's most sustainable port and is focused on creating, restoring and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat. Building on the success of past projects within Burrard Inlet, in 2019, the port authority and Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) entered into a ten-year agreement to formalize how collaboration would proceed on habitat bank projects within Burrard Inlet, acknowledging that there is a mutual benefit to work together in a collaborative way. The recently completed Maplewood Marine Restoration Project is an example of a positive project outcome of this agreement and is aligned with the conference theme of 'Honoring Our Ancestors: Visions for Future Generations and the Salish Sea'. The project is located in North Vancouver on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, in a marine site that was identified as a restoration priority by TWN. The mudflats hold a cultural significance and continue to be used for traditional practices such as harvesting for a variety of marine species. TWN's Burrard Inlet Action Plan set out the priority to restore critical nearshore habitat, among other priorities to improve the health of the inlet. The project restored approximately 4.5 hectares of degraded habitat at the site by creating a tidal flat, an eelgrass bed and a rock reef in an area that was previously impacted by industrial activities. The project included a skilled, multi-disciplinary team that included significant collaboration and input from TWN's Treaty, Lands and Resource Department and involvement from Musqueam Indian Band and Squamish Nation.