51社区黑料

One Okanagan

Thriving Economies of Local-led Regeneration

Salmon Returns is not just imagining the future economy鈥攚e are building it: an economy where 铿乶ancial prosperity is a direct result of restoring the land, uplifting communities, and ensuring long-term regional resilience. A system where investment fuels regeneration鈥攚here every dollar creates both 铿乶ancial returns and biocultural wealth. This is the shift from extraction to renewal, from harm to healing鈥攁n economy alive with opportunity, rooted in reciprocity, and designed to sustain life for generations to come. Embedding research is a key part of this strategy. 

As a consortium of impact investors, philanthropists, and researchers, Salmon Returns works with and flows funds to local community partners, who share a watershed or territory, to catalyze innovation that builds the technical, social and cultural understandings of what it means to be resilient to climate change, to catalyze and sustain local enterprise and opportunity, and to build a culture of regenerative and sustainable networks and practices. 51社区黑料Climate Innovation is a key partner in this initiative, both guiding and being guided by research areas, of business, economics, finance, Indigenous governance and economics for example, that helps to advance best practices in watershed restoration and resilience, nature-based solutions, biodiversity and low carbon, resilient and sustainable communities.

We work with and for local Indigenous and community-led partners, drawing upon and advancing best available research-for-impact in areas related to innovative governance, ecosystem-based monitoring and approaches, regenerative enterprise across sectors, innovative finance, and community-centred climate innovation. The goal is to accelerate experimentation, learning, and best practice across the Salmon Nation bioregion.

The One Okanagan Pilot

Widely regarded as British Columbia鈥檚 鈥渇ood basket,鈥� the Okanagan region is home to over 5,000 farms and agri-food businesses, spanning 1.7 million acres, and generating more than $800 million in revenue annually. Its fertile soils, unique microclimates, and abundant water access make it one of the province鈥檚 most productive鈥攁nd most ecologically signi铿乧ant鈥攁gricultural landscapes.

At the same time, the Okanagan Valley is on the frontlines of climate change. With increasing droughts, 铿俹ods, and wild铿乺es, this region is experiencing increasing frequency and severity of climate impacts 铿乺sthand, and the urgent need for adaptations. These pressures, combined with the region鈥檚 agricultural strengths, position the Okanagan as a prime site to lead Canada鈥檚 shift toward regenerative food systems and watershed approaches.

A core strategy is to advance existing and emerging communities in stewarding the natural and built assets that form the backbone of regenerative economies鈥攆orests, farms, food hubs, energy microgrids, healing centers, and housing cooperatives. By centring Indigenous-led approaches and anchoring ownership locally, we create pathways to invite values-aligned capital to grow steadily alongside over time, rooted in living systems and shared wealth. This approach not only builds economic power within communities but also strengthens their capacity to care for land, culture, and future generations.

These assets are what we call regenerative enterprises that are rooted in land, forests, food, energy, and 铿乻heries鈥攌ey sectors that anchor regional economies and highly impact ecological and human health3. This involves bringing research capacity to the community-centred and watershed-scale work that is already advancing, while also catalyzing innovative opportunities with Indigenous and community partners. The goal is to better understand key entry points and interventions that advance a regenerative economy and society while stewarding watershed health and resilience under a rapidly changing climate (see ACT SFU鈥檚 resource for an initial summary of indicators of Watershed Health and Resilience).

There is already momentum building across the Okanagan Valley. The North Okanagan is home to a growing network of regenerative farmers and land stewards鈥攍ike Fresh Valley Farms and Shuswap Organics鈥攚ho are advancing ecological methods and local food economies. Yet these efforts remain under-capitalized and fragmented. That鈥檚 where systems-level investment becomes catalytic.

In partnership with Sacha Investments and local organizations, Salmon Returns has launched the Okanagan Catalyst Network to deepen regional readiness and direct capital toward place-based investments that convert farmland, strengthen markets, and build community wealth. As part of this shared strategy, Sacha Investments Ltd. has already invested $15 million to secure regenerative farmland and build food distribution infrastructure, enabling local farms to supply regenerative produce to key urban markets. At the same time, the Land to Table Network has established the Food Shed, a centralized distribution program that expands market access for local producers while ensuring non-pro铿乼s, schools, and community organizations have access to affordable, nutritious food. 

By securing these foundational community assets, we are demonstrating the power and viability of place-based investment to grow a regenerative food system in the Okanagan. There is still more work ahead鈥攂ut the momentum is real and bringing research to bear on food systems and economics, crop selection, branding and marketing, and eco-credit incentives to expand regenerative approaches have been identified as initial areas for research-for-impact. 

Crucially, the Okanagan is the territory of the syilx Peoples who have cultivated and stewarded this land for generations. The Okanagan Nation Alliance represents eight member communities and as they advance their rich cultural traditions and practices, including stewarding the four food chiefs - Sk蓹mxist (Black Bear), Ntyxtix (Spring Salmon), Sp始i茮虝蓹m (Bitterroot), and Siya蕯 (Saskatoon Berry), the Okanagan peoples are reclaiming their food sovereignty and land-based practices. This presents opportunities to invest in Indigenous-led regeneration that advances both ecological healing and cultural resurgence. A key example of this is Sun Valley Ranch, a 1,500 acre property owned by the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB). This property is actively being developed by OKIB to create a space for land-based community healing, food production, and cultural activities like carving, tanning, food preservation, and ceremony. 

As one of the Food Chiefs, salmon are central to the health, identity, and sovereignty of Indigenous communities in the Okanagan Valley and throughout the bioregion, holding deep cultural, spiritual, and ecological signi铿乧ance. For generations, they鈥檝e been honored as sacred relatives鈥攕ymbols of reciprocity, renewal, and interconnection with land and water. As salmon populations decline, so too does the health of entire ecosystems and the cultural continuity of communities who have stewarded them since time immemorial. Restoring salmon is inseparable from Indigenous resurgence, ecological healing, and climate resilience. is a collaboration among three Nations - syilx Okanagan Nation, Ktunaxa Nation, Secw茅pemc Nation, to restore salmon spawning streams and regenerate salmon populations in the Columbia River System.

The Spring of 2024 showcased the effectiveness of this work, with salmon populations increasing by order of magnitudes due to the dedicated restoration work of the Nations (see the ). 

The Okanagan Catalyst Network, including 51社区黑料Climate Innovation, is advancing research that explores the benefits and trade-offs of eco-credit systems in advancing regenerative agriculture, and is exploring syilx peoples鈥� interest in the potential of a salmon biocultural credit to help to fund the restoration of salmon habitat and socio-ecological stewardship activities in the watershed more broadly. This team is initiating research that explores the opportunity for a Salmon Biocultural Credit - an innovative 铿乶ancial instrument that recognizes the full spectrum of ecological and social activities required to restore and sustain healthy watersheds鈥攕upporting both salmon populations and the human communities that depend on them. 

Unlike conventional carbon credits, which can be overly reductive and sometimes misaligned with broader ecological goals, this approach aims to capture the deep and enduring biocultural value of restoration work. Scienti铿乧 research shows that salmon-bearing watersheds support faster, larger tree growth due to marine nutrients delivered by spawning salmon鈥攎aking them some of the world鈥檚 most powerful carbon sinks. These connections reinforce the opportunity to leverage eco-credit and carbon markets to support the full ecological and cultural dimensions of salmon restoration and in turn, whole watershed health and resilience. We are interested in a credit that could fund a wide range of regenerative initiatives rooted in advancing watershed health and resilience. These may include: riparian restoration, cultural burning, intergenerational stewardship programs, language revitalization and Indigenous foodways. Salmon Returns is in the process of developing the Salmon Biocultural Credit with the support of an emerging network of relationships including Regen Foundation, Block Science, and BioFi Project to both design the credit system and develop an on-the-ground pilot program

The Bioregional Fund for One Okanagan is part of a broader regenerative 铿乶ancial ecosystem developed by Salmon Returns, where early philanthropic capital seeds long-term public and private investment, contributing to regenerative initiatives that can be advanced and financed over the long term. 51社区黑料Climate Innovation is a research partner in the space, bringing researcher capacities to advance research and best practices across participating organizations and sectors in the Okanagan. For funders and investors, this research-for-impact model offers measurable, nature-positive outcomes and the opportunity to support durable, community-driven solutions and research capacities and advancements that are capable of guiding, evaluating, and monitoring best practice approaches that can be mobilized across Canada and beyond.

51社区黑料Climate Innovation, with the Okanagan Catalyst Network and Salmon Returns, is seeking Indigenous partnership opportunities and research opportunities to make the One Okanagan regenerative financing project an international hub for learning about innovative and regenerative governance and finance opportunities at the watershed scale. Together, with investor, philanthropic, and research funds we are committed to building this future by aligning capital, land access, enterprise development, and community-led socio-ecological infrastructure. 

The groundwork is laid. The relationships are in place. The Okanagan is ready to lead.

Project Status: Seeking Support

Co-Creation Partners at the Okanagan Catalyst Network

• Cheryl Chen, PhD, Co-founder, Salmon Returns
• Donna Morton, Co-founder, Salmon Returns
• Pearl Gottschalk, Philanthropic Advisor/Storyteller, The Kindle Project
• Kira Gerwing, Impact Investing CIO, Sacha Investments
• Alison Shaw, PhD, Executive Director, ACT - Action on Climate Team, SFU

Project Collaborators