Recipient of the 2025 Conservation Award
Eric Balke, Senior Restoration Biologist with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC)
Photo: Natalie Myers
We’re thrilled to announce that we have awarded the inaugural Conservationist Award to Eric Balke, Senior Restoration Biologist with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), for his work on the Fraser River Estuary.
Each year, the International Management Board convenes within the service area of the Joint Venture in the United States or Canada. And when possible, the staff and Board identify a person who has shown exceptional commitment to achieving conservation success in one of the conservation priorities of this regional partnership.
“It’s quite humbling and fulfilling to see a project being implemented when you remember the first spark of an idea written on the back of a napkin that started that snowball rolling down the mountain.”
- Eric Balke
Eric was initially drawn to DUC because he wanted to be part of affecting meaningful change in the landscape through conservation efforts. In his current role at DUC, Eric leads ecological restoration and research projects throughout the BC Lower Mainland, including the Sturgeon Bank Sediment Enhancement Pilot Project in the Fraser River Delta.
The Sturgeon Bank Sediment Enhancement Pilot Project aims to address the loss of tidal marsh habitat in Richmond, British Columbia. Since the 1980’s this area has receded by over 160 hectares, likely due to human alterations to the landscape. As a result, areas of the marsh have both decreased in elevation and receded significantly, which impacts droves of migratory birds and other wildlife that rely on the Fraser River Delta, and puts coastal communities and infrastructure at risk. Rebuilding this shoreline is vital to ensuring this ecosystem is resilient long-term.
The project will address this by reusing sediment from nearby river dredging projects. Instead of the sediment being disposed of at sea, it will be used to build up the marsh at Sturgeon Bank. Three years into the project, there have been significant challenges, but Eric shared that these lessons learned in the pilot project are key to refining their approach for a longer-term strategy. You can learn more about the project here.
Outside of this project, he is the BC lead for the Nature Force Initiative, a partnership between DUC and 17 property and casualty insurance companies to build with nature to protect urban Canadian communities from flooding. Previously, he led the management of over 37,000 hectares of provincial conservation lands in partnership with the Province of BC, Ducks Unlimited Canada, The Nature Trust of BC, and the Canadian Wildlife Service.
On his favourite part of his work, Eric shared that he enjoys working with partners to take projects from concept to implementation: “It’s quite humbling and fulfilling to see a project being implemented when you remember the first spark of an idea written on the back of a napkin that started that snowball rolling down the mountain.”
Join us in congratulating Eric on this well-deserved achievement and celebrating all he brings to conservation!
