This week, a UN Panel on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called for a halt to construction of the Site C Dam until a full review on impacts to indigenous lands is carried out. The issues relating to dam project in the Peace River were also up for debate at last weekend’s Bowfest.
“When it comes to Site C there’s a lot to talk about, including food security, energy, the economy, and we spoke about whatever angle people were interested in,” says Brenna Rosen, who is entering her final semester at Capilano College, where she is studying Global Stewardship. “What we wanted to do was open up a dialogue on environmental issues here on Bowen, and to learn from other people too.”
Rosen and her friend Neela Todd, who is studying International Development, had considered presenting to various groups on Bowen before deciding Bowfest was the best way to connect with islanders.
“It was heartening to hear from older people,” says Todd. “I had quite a few of them apologize to me for making a mess out of the world and leaving it to my generation to sort out.”
After finishing up her second year at McGill, Todd attended a leadership training in Seattle run through Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. Participants were asked to commit to ten acts of climate leadership, Bowfest will count as one.
Todd says the events of this year, including a particularly harsh winter, the worst wildfire season in BC since 1961, the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and last week’s record breaking heatwave in BC all keep climate change and finding a way to take positive action at the top of her mind.
Both students say that growing up on Bowen has influenced their perspectives on these matters.
“I guess it would be easy to take the natural beauty we were surrounded by growing up for granted,” says Rosen. “But I feel really lucky to have that connection with nature, and feel a responsibility to protect it.”
