Learn Soil Bioengineering
Courses, field guides, and practical references for soil bioengineering and ecological restoration in British Columbia.
The main course follows the Living on the Edge manual and organizes the original lesson material into ten online modules with quizzes.
The full course is intended for restoration practitioners, land managers, engineers, and field crews. Short courses cover individual methods. All courses, including the free courses, require a LearnDash account; public method pages and technical guides remain open without registration.
Self-Paced Online Access
Sign in to work through lessons at your own pace and return to material you have already opened.
A Field Manual, Structured for Online Study
The main course preserves the Living on the Edge lesson material in a structured series of modules with quizzes.
Free Courses, Sign-In Required
Technique-specific courses cost nothing to take but remain behind login so access and progress stay within LearnDash.
Recommended free learning path
A practical order for the free courses
Start with the site decision, then learn how to prepare living material and apply the methods that fit your work. Each course also stands on its own.
Diagnose the site
Choosing the Right Technique connects site conditions and failure mechanisms to suitable methods.
Prepare living material
Harvesting Plant Cuttings covers timing, species, handling, storage, and preparation.
Learn core installations
Continue with Live Staking or Wattle Fencing for practical installation guidance.
Restore compacted ground
Rough and Loose Restoration focuses on surface preparation and natural recovery on disturbed sites.
Choose by field condition
Match learning to the site problem
Each route combines a free course with public methods and documented field evidence. Start with the condition that most closely matches the site.
Unstable or eroding slopes
Learn: Choosing the Right Technique and Wattle Fencing
Field evidence: Colquitz Creek and Johnson's Landing
Compacted mine or industrial ground
Learn: Choosing the Right Technique and Rough and Loose Restoration
Field evidence: Battle Lake and Brenda Mine
Streambanks and riparian areas
Learn: Harvesting Plant Cuttings and Live Staking
Field evidence: San Juan River and Stoltz Bluffs
Shorelines and coastal sites
Learn: Choosing the Right Technique, then review Modified Brush Layers
Field evidence: Bamberton and Cowichan Bay
Courses
Principles and Practices of Ecological Restoration
Full course · 10 modules · self-paced · $49.99
The main course follows the 113-page Living on the Edge manual and organizes the material into ten modules with end-of-module quizzes.
The theory and principles of ecological restoration
Every major soil bioengineering technique in detail
Species selection for BC applications
Site assessment methods and indicators
Project planning from assessment to implementation
Rough and Loose Surface Treatment
Free micro-course
A short course on rough and loose surface preparation: why compacted ground limits recovery, how the surface is constructed, and where the method fits. Sign in or create an account to begin.
What rough and loose surface treatment is, and when to use it
Why smooth, compacted surfaces fail to support recovery
How to implement it on your own site
Free Micro-Courses
Four short courses cover individual methods from the PES field and teaching library. They have no purchase price, but an account is required before lesson access.
Live Staking Field Guide
The most widely used soil bioengineering technique. Learn how to select species, prepare cuttings, and install live stakes that root into living slope reinforcement.
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Wattle Fencing for Erosion Control
Build willow retaining steps that intercept and slow eroding material while vegetation establishes on suitable slopes. Lay horizontal stems behind every vertical post, then backfill and lightly tamp down the soil.
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Harvesting Plant Cuttings
Every living technique starts with good cuttings. What to collect, when to collect it, and how to handle material so it survives installation.
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Choosing the Right Technique
Match the method to the problem. A practical decision framework covering slopes, streambanks, gullies, and compacted ground.
Sign In to Start FreeReady to go deeper? The full course covers all of this and more in 10 structured modules.
See the Full Course
Free Technical Guides
Practical reference material, free on this site. Every technique in the PES toolkit has its own detailed page:
Illustrated Technique Guides
Step-by-step bioengineering method illustrations with installation sequences for field reference.
BC-Specific Species Lists
Native plant species recommended for bioengineering across British Columbia biogeoclimatic zones.
Free to Download
All guides are available without registration. Share freely with contractors, clients, or restoration partners.
Foundational References Behind the Course
The learning hub is grounded in the Living on the Edge handbook, conference papers, and riparian restoration writing. These sources show both the ecological theory and the field methods behind the PES toolkit.
- Living on the Edge: A Manual for the Restoration of Drastically Disturbed Sites (2021), available exclusively to course members
- Cost-Effective Strategies for the Restoration of Large Disturbances (Web Edition)
- Making Sites Rough and Loose for Enhancing Natural Processes (Web Edition)
- Soil Bioengineering Techniques for Riparian Restoration (UBC Open Collections)
- Restoring Riparian Areas Using Natural Processes (SER Western Canada)
Field Resources
Alongside the course and technique pages, the site includes free reference pages drawn from presentations, papers, and field documentation.
Use the Free Library Before You Buy
The public PES library provides method pages, dated project records, and shorter references drawn from papers and presentations. These pages remain available without a course account.
Long-Term Field Records
Dated field photographs show how selected sites changed over intervals of years and, in a few cases, decades.
Before and After Documentation
Same-site sequences show installation, early growth, and later vegetation cover. Captions identify dates and sources where the records support them.
Cost Comparison Data
David's published cost examples explain the assumptions behind rough-and-loose treatment and selected soil bioengineering methods. They are historical references, not fixed quotes for new work.
For Organizations and Crews
Training workshops have been delivered to municipalities, First Nations crews, and engineering firms across British Columbia. If you run a field crew, a land management program, or an engineering team, we can discuss on-site or remote training.