Most people walk along a stream and marvel at the fish and birds without knowing anything about them.
That's not the case for Rob Butler and John Reynolds, of the Port Moody-based Pacific WildLife Foundation.
The researchers and conservationists have set themselves goals of changing our understanding about salmon and marine life, and their work has been honoured with the Vancouver Aquarium's Murray A. Newman Award for excellence in aquatic research and conservation (www.vanaqua.org).
Reynolds, an SFU ecology professor, is identifying plant and animal species in 50 watersheds on B.C.'s central coast to find out how important salmon are to the ecosystem while Butler, PWF founder, SFU professor emeritus in the department of biological sciences, artist and internationally known ornithologist, is counting all the birds in the Salish Sea (Puget Sound, the Juan de Fuca Strait or the Strait of Georgia) for a B.C. bird atlas that can be used to gauge the effects of climate change and tanker traffic in the future.
Reynolds works with SFU grad students at a base in Bella Bella to identify what makes a healthy stream.
"Streams that have more salmon have more insects and bird populations," said Reynolds, who has measured 6,000 trees as part of his work and identified 25 species of moss, and can tell you what plants signify a healthy-salmon population (prolific salmonberry is a good indication).
"I never thought I'd want to identify moss but those things go together," he jokes.
Butler, a New Westminster resident, founded the Pacific WildLife Foundation (www.pwlf.org.) located at Reed Point Marina, to promote research and is also producing a film called Three Waters about the importance of nature to West Coast culture.
Together, these two men have dedicated their lives toward the greater understanding of healthy bird and salmon populations. For Butler and Reynolds, recognition by the Vancouver Aquarium at a gala dinner March 3 is an opportunity to get the message out that people should care about the ecosystem in which they live.
