General Support

Why fund this campaign? The BC Marine Trails works in three areas called the three-pillar program. Our general funding goes to First Nations engagement, Protecting our Coast, and trails building programs.

Pillar – First Nations Engagement:  BCMT began The First Nations Engagement Program (FNEP) in 2019 in recognition of new political imperatives involved in recreational planning on the British Columbia coast. These involve aboriginal rights and title, reconciliation and the tenet of prior and informed consent. FNEP specifically addresses these three principles. This work is a respectful approach to reconciliation and will help paddlers and small boaters in future access to the coast
 

Pillar: Why support the BCMT’s stewardship and conservation work? Our stewardship initiatives have the clear aim to manage and foster sustainable recreational practices on the BC coast. We are currently piloting programs to strongly promote sustainable behaviour. We encourage behaviours through community-based social marketing techniques. We also work on plastics removal (i.e. Vargas Island 2022), invasive species removal (2022), and help maintain recreational sites for paddlers in a few regions.

Pillar: Why support our trails development and safety program? We oversee 17 recreation sites in cooperation with three paddling clubs. Our map has over 3500 sites with approximately 1300 visible sites. This work takes ongoing management of site data. We also make available a public map, member map and a Trails Development map. The BCMT has designed a Marine Trail Safety Mandate to promote safe distances between campsites and day use sites.