Parks Canada is looking for volunteers to become caribou ambassadors to help educate the public about woodland caribou—an endangered species within Jasper National Park.
Already in its fourth season, the Caribou Ambassadors Program teaches volunteers about the endangered animal and in turn asks volunteers to share their knowledge with the wider public.
“We’re trying to build a community of stewards,” said Shelley Bird, public outreach and education officer for Parks Canada’s caribou conservation program.
“It’s not just about caribou, but about the landscapes in which they’re found because they are some of the most amazing landscapes in the park,” she said, referring to caribou habitat in the Maligne and Tonquin valleys.
As part of the program, volunteers learn why the caribou is endangered and how people can mitigate their impacts on caribou habitat. They will also learn about the biology of the caribou and spend some time in the field to physically understand where the animal lives.
Once the volunteers complete the educational portion of the program, they will situate themselves either at popular trailheads leading into caribou habitat, such as Cavell Meadows, or wander the trails themselves.
Occasionally ambassadors will also be found in the community during special events, such as Parks Day, or standing at the base of the SkyTram.
“A lot of people don’t even know we have caribou, so it’s a great way to inform them and give them a little bit more information about the park,” said Bird, adding that the program has expanded this year and is available as a training program for local businesses.
Parks’ partnering engagement officer, Kevin Gedling, spoke to members of the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, May 12, to encourage business owners to take advantage of the free program.
“The training that we provide for volunteers is available for any frontline staff in Jasper, for free,” he said. “We can do an hour to a two-hour workshop about what Parks Canada’s doing for caribou and give people some good answers to some frontline questions that visitors may have.”
The first training session will be held on the evening of May 27 at the Parks Canada compound.
If people are interested, they are encourage to contact Parks Canada at 780-852-6204 or by email at
[email protected]
In addition to Parks Canada’s program, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) has launched its own Caribou Ambassadors Program to help educate Canadians from coast to coast.
The brand new program is completely separate from Parks, but shares similar goals.
According to Éric Hébert-Daly, national director for CPAWS, the non-profit organization plans to train 250 ambassadors across the country about the woodland caribou and have the ambassadors organize small gatherings where they’ll teach their friends and family about the endangered species.
“We’re trying to rally Canadians to host events, to speak at gatherings, to do some online efforts, to essentially create a circle of friends who are activists for the caribou,” said Hébert-Daly.
After each ambassador is trained, CPAWS will provide PowerPoint presentations and other material to help facilitate local discussions.
To help the program get off the ground, CPAWS recently hired a part-time, temporary coordinator.
The program will run from mid-June until October.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
