We are thrilled to welcome our new Conservation Land Stewards and Citizen Science volunteers! Both of these programs were launched earlier this year to help us build capacity to better care for and monitor our conservation lands. As a local organization with a small staff team, we rely deeply on the support of our community and volunteers. And as we continue to grow in the midst of a global pandemic, the need to have properly trained, committed volunteers who can help us steward and monitor our lands independently has become increasingly evident. If you see them out on the land, feel free to stop and say hello!
Welcome Conservation Land Stewards
Conservation Land Stewards are our core group of trusted stewardship volunteers who commit to stewarding their assigned land for a minimum of 2 years. By frequently visiting and stewarding one land, the goal is that they will build a relationship with their land over time and be better able to identify changes and stewardship needs.
After being accepted into the program, Conservation Land Stewards attended both online and in-person field training. The online training gave volunteers an overview of EALT and the program, their role as a volunteer, our health and safety procedures, how to identify the most common invasive plants, and how to do various stewardship activities.
Conservation Land Stewards Program Lead Nikki Paskar demonstrates which tools are right for the task.
The in-person field training was an opportunity to get out onto the lands where Conservation Land Stewards were assigned, go through the stewardship tasks specific to that land, and tour the land. We talked about the history and ecology of the land and highlighted some of our ongoing stewardship efforts like bat boxes, nest boxes, restoration sites, and more.
Conservation Land Stewards will be helping us manage invasive plants, monitor infrastructure, remove black knot fungus, monitor any suspicious activity, remove trash and debris, and maintain trails for responsible public access.
Welcome Citizen Scientists
Citizen science engages members of the public to contribute to data collection, reporting, and knowledge for a variety of fields, from health to environment. We launched our updated citizen science programs this year to not only inform conservation and stewardship efforts on our conservation lands, but also to contribute to conservation science on a larger scale by submitting the data to established monitoring programs.
This year we are offering two different citizen science opportunities - Bat Box Monitoring and Loon Surveying, each of which requires several visits in the summer months.
Citizen Science training took place virtually due to COVID-19 outdoor gathering restrictions.
Bat Box Surveys
Citizen science volunteers will be conducting exit surveys, where they count the number of bats that leave the boxes at dusk. This data will be shared with the Alberta Community Bat Program as part of their provincial bat monitoring initiative.
Loon Surveys
Citizen science volunteers will be monitoring the lakes on our conservation lands to see if they support the successful breeding of loons in this region. This data will be submitted to Birds Canada as a part of the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey.
A huge thank you to our incredible new Conservation Land Stewards and Citizen Science volunteers!
Interested in Joining?
If you are interested in joining either of these programs, applications for next year will open in January with duties commencing in May. Check back for recruitment updates on the Conservation Land Stewards or Citizen Science pages or follow us on social media.
If you would like to help out but can’t make the commitment, check out our Volunteer page for other options. Pending COVID restrictions, we will be hosting a few group stewardship volunteer events this summer. Sign up for our volunteer newsletter to find out about all of our upcoming volunteer opportunities.