How WildSmart are you? Speaker Series

Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley

Negative encounters between humans and wildlife may result in people suffering injuries or fatalities and wildlife being relocated or killed outright. The Bow Valley, with its growing human use and location in critical wildlife habitat and movement corridors, has seen numerous encounters and human fatalities. The Bow Valley
WildSmart Community Program understands that there is a critical need for sustained public education, coordination and collaboration among government agencies, landowners, user groups and businesses. With Ecotrust support they will continue their popular speaker series to educate the community about the impact and challenges we face to coexist with wildlife, such as bears, cougars and wolves.

Results

Wildsmart's Speaker Series proved to be a great success on so many levels.

During their 5 presentations:

• 450 people attended the speaker series.
• 185 people  listened to the speaker series online.
• 123 people pledged to be WildSmart on the Trail.
• 90 people pledged to be WildSmart at Home.

As Kim Titchner, the Program Director states:

"The WildSmart speaker series created a forum for people to come together to learn about how they impact wildlife, what they can do to ensure the longevity of wildlife in the Bow Valley and the opportunities to take action by volunteering and committing to appropriate behaviour on the trail and at home.   A shift in our culture, our way of thinking and living with wildlife is changing and it can be seen here in the Bow Valley."