The 60-plus children recently gathered with members of the We Wai Kai Nation, Quadra Island school and community leaders and the B.C. Wildlife Federation to celebrate their new wetland restoration project by planting a selection of native trees and shrubs. The wetland will provide a habitat for endemic plants and animals and serve as an outdoor classroom for students, said Sheldon Etheridge, the School District 72 teacher who spearheaded the project. Nothing underscores the importance of protecting or restoring wetlands at a community level like drought conditions across the province provoked by a global climate crisis. “It’s exciting. The project’s all coming together,” Etheridge said. “Except for the water.”