CLAM GARDEN RESTORATION PROJECT
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, Canada
Hul'q'umi'num Nation, WSANEC Nation, Parks Canada
| Clam gardens are the product of Hul'q'umi'num and WSÁNEĆ peoples who have managed their lands and resources across the southern Gulf Islands in modern day Canada for thousands of years. Clam gardens are just one of the traditional practices that the Coast Salish peoples have used to modify beaches by building rock walls at the lowest tide mark to trap sand and sediment, creating a land-facing terrace, known as a clam garden. Clam gardens are highly productive ecosystems that support butter and littleneck clams in significantly higher proportions than beaches that are not modified. The Clam Garden restoration project is an eco-cultural restoration project and collaboration between Coast Salish knowledge holders and Parks Canada to restore two clam garden sites, in which Hul'q'umi'num and WSÁNEĆ elders and knowledge holders guide the work while Parks Canada scientists monitor changes to the intertidal ecosystem. The project is a pilot to understand if clam gardens can be used as an effective resource management tool within the Gulf Islands National Park, and to facilitate opportunities for Coast Salish people to engage with their ancestral territories and practice their traditional harvesting rights. The project includes data collection and analysis, as well as an annual science and cultural camp, and has also launched several knowledge sharing events. |
2013 - 2018
2 acres
0 feet above sea level
tags: agriculture by climate, localized production, subsistence, resilience, ecological, community, government-driven, community-driven, training program, communication, sea level rise and storm surge, increased storm frequency, habitat loss, environmental justice, cultural preservation, heritage, indigenous rights, landscape metrics, indigenous and traditional knowledge, North America, Nearctic, Taiga
References:
Augustine, Skye and Philip Dearden. “Changing paradigms in marine and coastal conservation: A case study of clam gardens in the Southern Gulf Islands, Canada.” The Canadian Geographer 58, no. 3 (2014):305-314.
Groesbeck, Amy S., Kirsten Rowell, Dana Lepofsky and Anne K. Salomon. "Ancient clam gardens increased shellfish production: adaptive strategies from the past can inform food security today." PLoS ONE 9, no. 3 (2014): e91235. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091235.
Links:
https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/gulf/nature/restauration-restoration/parcs-a-myes-clam-gardens
https://clamgarden.com/about/