What is the Southern East Slopes Conservation Strategy project?
The Southern Eastern Slopes Conservation Strategy is a unique and timely project for Alberta that brings together conservation organizations working in the region (the Collaborative) to assess the health of our Southern Eastern Slopes and develop strategic goals and objectives for collaborative work on conservation priorities.
Our Vision:
The Southern Eastern Slopes is a landscape revered for clean water, wildlife habitat, open space, wilderness recreation and working communities. Clear conservation objectives and effective stewardship maintain this valuable ecosystem.
The strength of the Collaborative’s work comes from the breadth of its participants and its science based analysis. Groups involved in the project included watershed groups, scientists, fish and angler organizations, and non-profits focused on public and private land protection. The diversity of participation facilitated robust ecological assessments and the development of strategies that look across jurisdictions and environmental issues to find common ground for collaborative action.
The intent of the project is to clearly identify what is needed to keep the southern East Slopes functioning ecologically lens, and to work towards an informed collaborative approach to issues.
Four core organizations drive the Collaborative work:
- Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – Southern Alberta Chapter
- Miistakis Institute
- Southern Alberta Land Trust Society
- Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
While the core group is driving the process, other conservation organizations and individuals are critical partners in the Collaborative They include:
- Alberta Native Plant Council
- Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society (Cows and Fish)
- Bragg Creek Environmental Coalition
- Bow River Basin Council
- Elbow River Watershed Partnership
- Foothills Land Trust
- Ghost Community
- Ghost Watershed Alliance Society
- Livingstone Landowner Group
- Nature Conservancy of Canada
- Oldman Watershed Council
- Trout Unlimited Canada
The intent of the project is to clearly assess the health of the Southern Eastern Slopes and identify what is needed to keep this region functioning ecologically. This work was done without a single organizational, industry, or government lens, and was completed using an informed collaborative approach to issues and actions.
What study area does the Southern East Slopes Conservation Strategy cover?
The proposed collaborative conservation strategies can be more effective than addressing disparate ecosystems or communities that may require very different approaches. Accordingly, key features influencing the collaborative conservation boundary for this project include:
- Headwaters of the Bow and Oldman Rivers;
- Areas of predominantly intact native vegetation;
- Areas of high habitat value for wide-ranging mammals;
- Areas of high habitat value for species at risk;
- Creeks and rivers containing native fish species;
Why is the ESCC needed today?
The importance of Southern Eastern Slopes to Albertans cannot be overstated. This landscape provides a disproportionate amount of the ecosystem services that southern Albertans rely on including:
- Most of the water for cities like Calgary and Lethbridge and our southern communities and irrigation districts, including providing natural filtration and storage;
- Many of Alberta’s richest remaining pockets of biodiversity
- Our province’s most productive ranch lands and the cattle industry they help to support;
- Recreation opportunities including camping, hiking, biking, horseback riding, paddling, wildlife watching, hunting, and fishing; and
- Magnificent viewscapes and the majority of Alberta’s world-renowned tourism resources.
To protect these foundational elements to the ecological health of the southern East Slopes, we are working together to address these complex and growing problems.