Press Release
June 30, 2006
CPAWS marine program receives Vancouver Foundation grant
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has received support from Canada's largest community foundation for its work in the Southern Strait of Georgia, designed to help secure a new national marine conservation area (NMCA) for British Columbia.
The Vancouver Foundation announced that its Environment Advisory Committee has approved a $20,000 grant for this CPAWS project. The committee's purpose is to encourage and assist in the resolution of broad environmental issues arising in British Columbia.
CPAWS has been working for a decade toward the establishment of a Southern Strait of Georgia NMCA. The project provides outreach and education materials about the Strait of Georgia and the abundant marine life that lives just off our shores. CPAWS also coordinates a network of local groups and stakeholders active in the on-going Parks Canada feasibility study and is organizing zoning workshops throughout the Southern Gulf Islands that will result in recommendations to be submitted to Parks Canada.
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is Canada's grassroots voice for wilderness. Since it's founding in 1963, CPAWS members across Canada have helped to protect over 100 million hectares of parks and wilderness areas. The organization consists of thirteen independent regional chapters, totaling about 32,000 members.
The Vancouver Foundation administers a permanent endowment with assets of approximately $500 million, representing the combined capital of over 800 funds created through bequests other donations and gifts. Grants are made from the income that is generated from investment of the pooled capital of these funds. The Vancouver Foundation provides grants to registered charitable organizations throughout British Columbia.
CPAWS - British Columbia Chapter