Three Tri-City residents are among a group of nine environmental activists who are taking part in a 25-day, 1,400-km paddling trip down the Fraser River.
John Lewis and Megan Rempel of Coquitlam and Petra Markova of Port Coquitlam left Thursday from Mt. Robson, the headwaters of the Fraser, to travel mostly by canoe as part of the 13th annual Sustainable Living Leadership Program organized by the Rivershed Society of BC.
Along the way, the group will learn about about stewardship and design their own sustainability projects when they return home.
"I am looking forward to meeting young people who are just as passionate as I am about the environment and creating connections that will last beyond the three weeks’ trip,” Rempel said in a release prior to the trip.
Rempel will be working to expand municipal recycling programs to accept cigarette butt litter; Lewis will be working on ARTcipation, an outreach program that encourages kids to think about watershed health; and Markova will give public talks about the experience.
During their journey, the travellers will visit 10 of the province's 14 biogeoclimatic zones, studying watersheds, salmon, resource management and learning how to lower their ecological footprint.
On Aug. 4, the group will be in Coquitlam, where they will have dinner and overnight on Kwikwetlem First Nation land, with the final stop Sunday, Aug. 7 at the Jericho Sailing Centre in Vancouver.
The journey marks the 20th anniversary of the Rivershed Society of BC, which was established as a non-profit organization to improve the health of the river. It was Fin Donnelly's "Swim for Life' down the length of the Fraser that sparked the inception of the society in 1996.
“We are excited to see these individuals learn and grow over the course of the program,” said Donnelly, now the MP for Port Moody-Coquitlam and the critic for Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. “We look forward to the positive impacts they will make in their communities after the Sustainable Living Leadership Program wraps up for the season.”
