Bill Adams (right) released one of the 600 juvenile sturgeon into Vanderhoof’s Nechako River. With him is Gaby Poirier, General Manager, Rio Tinto.
As part of our commitment to sustainable forest management, our operational plans contain conservation measures to protect habitat for species in the area, especially those that are at risk.
One way we demonstrate this commitment is through Canfor Pulp’s annual donation of $10,000 to the Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative, a program we have supported since 2011. Our support helps the organization identify how to protect, restore and manage their habitats in the hopes of avoiding extinction of one of Canada’s endangered species.
Some of the specific 2016 priority projects that Canfor Pulp’s donation supports include: the hiring a First Nations coordinator for the live adult release program; a project to monitor and install the acoustic array for the purpose of spawn monitoring; and a project to deploy radio-tags in adult fish residing in the Upper Fraser River.
On May 13, the organization hosted the Save Our Sturgeon Release Event where 600 juvenile sturgeon) raised at the organization’s conservation centre were released into Vanderhoof’s Nechako River. Bill Adams, Senior Director of Sustainability and Innovation, attended the event and had the opportunity to release a year-old sturgeon into the river, close to the only known Nechako white sturgeon spawning ground.
Canfor Pulp is proud to support the Nechako White Sturgeon Recover Initiative and to help return this species to a self-sustaining population.