Promoting Ecotourism to Conserve a Watershed in Virginia

Challenge

The Lower Chickahominy Watershed in eastern central Virginia boasts nearly pristine marshes and swamp forests. Realizing the threat future development could pose to the watershed, the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program decided to proactively explore conservation of this resource.

Solution

Using funding from NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, the coastal management program began working with individuals from county agencies who work on protecting coastal resources. The group decided to start promoting ecotourism as a way to bring in additional revenue, working toward that goal in several ways. Staff from the state coastal management program attended Social Science Basics for Coastal Managers, a Digital Coast training, and used skills learned from the training to actively engage and work with natural and cultural resource agencies, small business owners, and local tribal leaders.

This effort ultimately led to a signed memorandum of understanding, forming the Lower Chickahominy Watershed Collaborative. This unique initiative unites three tribes, three localities, and two planning district commissions, with the shared goal of sustainable economic and ecological activity, all while preserving the watershed. New partners have since joined.