Farmers and producers in the Regional District of Central Kootenay and Regional District of Kootenay Boundary will be discussing the effects of climate change on local agriculture this week. The Province is hosting meetings in Creston and Greenwood, however both are just about at capacity. Samantha Charlton is a project manager with the BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative and says there’s other ways to get in touch if you’re interested.
“We don’t like turning people away so we’re always open if people are interested and they can’t get into these ones, we’ll be spreading the word widely for the second set which will be held in late January, and we’re always open to receiving input on the side through other means as well.”
The purpose of the meetings is to raise awareness, plan for future conditions and determine what the biggest issues are. Charlton says they’ve already been hearing some concerns, and these events will help narrow things down and form priorities.
“We sort of want to find out how wide spread the concerns are and which on the long list of possible climate change impacts people are the most concerned about just so we can start to zero in where we should target our efforts.”
Regional adaptation strategies are under development in the Kootenay and Boundary, Bulkley-Nechako, and Fraser-Fort George regions. Regional adaptation strategies have already been developed in six other agricultural areas of the province: Cowichan, Delta, the Peace, the Cariboo, the Fraser Valley and the Okanagan and are available here.
The first meeting goes Tuesday, December 4 in Creston and Thursday, December 6 in Greenwood. Pre-registration is required. Producers interested in attending the workshop should contact 250 215-5999 or email: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]).