Fighting climate change by reconnecting to ecosystems in our own backyards

Jun 21

A Cascadia bus with activists went to South Dakota as part of the Standing Rock protests in 2016. Photo by Brandon Letsinger

By Tori Fitzpatrick

Climate change does not recognize borders. Proof can be found in the smoke from Canadian fires that recently fouled the air in the United States and the catastrophic flooding of B.C.’s Sumas Prairie when the Nooksack River in the U.S. burst its banks in 2021.

Yet, efforts to fight climate change are often siloed by ecologically artificial borders between countries, provinces and states. Now a Victoria- and Seattle-based initiative known as Regenerate Cascadia is reimagining how we should organize and collaborate in the fight against climate change.

The Cascadia bioregion is 2,500 kilometres long and includes B.C., Washington, Oregon, Idaho, parts of southeast Alaska and northern California. It is defined by its geographic boundaries and unique watersheds, climate, flora and fauna, and faces a set of distinct environmental problems that directly impact its communities.

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