Nov 10, 2020 - Discover an Underwater Hero in Your Own Backyard: Eelgrass

Extracted text (beginning)

November 10, 2020 – for immediate release                                                                                                                        2020-24-IT  
 
Discover an underwater hero in your own backyard: eelgrass 
From the Islands Trust climate action speaker series 
 
Lək
̓
 ʷəŋən, METULIYE/Victoria, B.C. – Islands Trust invites the public to their upcoming Eelgrass: A Climate Hero webinar, 
free to all on the evening of November 24. Presenters Aimee McGowan and Victoria Postlethwaite, both graduates of 
Simon Fraser University’s Resource and Environmental Management master’s program, and Nikki Wright, Executive 
Director of SeaChange Marine Conservation Society, will guide participants through the vital relevance of eelgrass to the 
Islands Trust Area. The Islands Trust Area is comprised of 13 major islands and more than 450 smaller islands covering 
5,200 square kilometres in the Salish Sea.  
 
Webinar attendees will learn about the benefits of Zostera marina – which include commercial benefits to our fisheries 
and tourism sectors among many others. The presentation will also cover how best to care for eelgrass meadows in local 
communities, so that those benefits are not lost. 
 
Specifically, attendees will close the evening with a deeper understanding of:  
 
 Top benefits that eelgrass, the little-known hero plant, provides to the marine ecosystem 
 Blue carbon and the role it plays in climate change mitigation strategies 
 Simple things that Trust Area community members and others can do to restore and protect eelgrass meadows 
 
“This is the third webinar offered in our climate action speaker series, and we hope everyone will enjoy it,” said Islands 
Trust Council Chair and cold-water scuba diver Peter Luckham. “I can tell you first hand that eelgrass is fascinating, from 
its role sequestering blue carbon to acting as a nursery for countless sea stars, nudibranchs, and fish within the Trust Area 
and in coastal communities around the world.” 
 
The webinar will take place online via Zoom Videoconferencing on Tuesday, November 24, from 6:30 – 8:00 pm; to 
register, go to https://bit.ly/3lPzjNK  
 
 
Two other webinars in the climate action speaker series are: 
Rainwater Harvesting – watch the recording at https://bit.ly/3iFNB0y    
Ecosystem-based Adaptation – watch the recording at https://bit.ly/3kgOTzZ 
 
For more information on the climate action speaker series program, go to https://bit.ly/2EGkRX8 
 
  
 
News Release 
200 - 1627 Fort Street Victoria B.C. V8R 1H8 
Telephone: 250.405.5151 FAX: 250.405.5155 
Toll Free via Enquiry BC in Vancouver 604.660.2421. Elsewhere in BC 
1.800.663.7867 
information@islandstrust.bc.ca ; www.islandstrust.bc.ca 

 
About the Presenters 
Nikki Wright 
Nikki has served as the Executive Director of SeaChange Marine Conservation Society since 1998 and as Co-Chair of the 
Seagrass Conservation Working Group since 2001. Eelgrass mapping, restoration, and conservation are part of

First 3,000 characters. Open the original for the whole document.