Teaching elementary-aged kids about human-wildlife conflicts is a major part of the WildSafe Ranger presentations available for scheduling this fall.
WildSafeBC Fraser Valley puts on the WildSafe Ranger presentations, and is a provincial leader in preventing conflict with wildlife through collaboration, education and community solutions.
It is a program managed and delivered by the BC Conservation Foundation in communities across the province.
Jocelyn Buchart, as the WildSafeBC co-ordinator for the Fraser Valley, will be delivering the WildSafe Ranger Program to school-aged children across the Fraser Valley.
“Our WildSafe Ranger Program stimulates discussion about local wildlife and introduces students to the concept of human-wildlife conflict,” Buchart said. “Youth are encouraged to take an active role in reducing human-wildlife conflict at home by helping their families identify backyard wildlife attractants. Proactive attractant management is the most effective long-term solution to human-wildlife conflict.”
In addition, children learn how to have a safe and respectful relationship with wildlife.
WildSafe Rangers will learn:
• Basic needs (habitat requirements) of local wildlife species;
• The root causes of human-wildlife conflict;
• How human-wildlife conflict impacts both people and animals;
• What we can do at home to prevent human-wildlife conflict;
• How to stay safe in wildlife country.
The WildSafe Ranger Program complements the B.C. science K-9 Curriculum to foster “a basis for an intuitive relationship with and respect for the natural world; connections to their ecosystem and community; and a sense of relatedness that encourages lifelong harmony with nature.”
For more information, contact Jocelyn Buchart at fraservalley@wildsafebc.com or 604-702-5086.
For further information on reducing human-wildlife conflict visit the website wildsafebc.com, and follow WildSafeBC Fraser Valley on Facebook.
Please report sightings of bears, wolves or cougars in urban/residential areas, or wildlife in conflict, to the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277.
“WildSafeBC Fraser Valley is grateful for the generous support the program receives from its funders including the cities of Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, and the Fraser Valley Regional District, the British Columbia Conservation Foundation and the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.”
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