Ten ways to make a difference!

Here are ten things you can help make happen by volunteering or giving a gift.

• 1. Be a steward of your own property

  Many landowners are managing their properties for nature (read some case studies about farmers and ranchers who have practiced stewardship on their land). Others are monitoring and stewarding streams, lakeshores and marine shorelines along their property boundaries (visit SCBC’s Green Shores website to learn what you can do).

• 2. Restore habitats

  Many thousands of volunteers are rolling up their sleeves and working on-the-ground (and in-the-water) to revitalize wildlife habitat. For example, they might be reclaiming old industrial sites, cleaning up streams, and removing and controlling introduced species such as Broom. See our Additional Resources page for links to some of these organizations.

• 3. Offer educational activities to learn about our natural world

  Through understanding comes action for nature. Most green legacy organizations publish newsletters, offer nature celebration and interpretation events, sponsor outings and provide expertise to decision makers. These are just some of the ways people are helping groups share their knowledge with their communities.

• 4. Open children’s and teachers’ eyes to the wonder of the natural world

  To excite children (and their teachers) about the phenomenal world we live in, many conservation groups provide supplementary curriculum materials and guest lecturers in classrooms.

• 5. Raise funds to permanently acquire and manage private land

  Many conservation groups and land trusts are purchasing and/or receiving gifts of land to steward in perpetuity, when purchasing land is the best alternative to protect threatened wildlife and plant communities. Rising land values in valley bottoms and coastal lowlands where most people live, and ongoing maintenance costs, now necessitate more vigorous fundraising campaigns.

• 6. Work with landowners to use covenants to protect ecologically sensitive areas

  Landowners who wish to ensure that future owners will also respect the ecological features of their land can place covenants on special areas. Conservation groups and land trusts are helping landowners complete this process and in many cases, they hold the covenant in perpetuity.

• 7. Undertake research projects

  Many hundreds of volunteers annually contribute to bird studies and water monitoring projects. Others help with endangered species recovery programs. Research projects by conservation groups create credible information and mapping resources for land use planning processes and sustainable resource management policies.

• 8. Promote public awareness of ecological concerns

  Through public awareness programs and through representation in consultation processes, groups actively encourage ecologically sound land and water use decisions and management regimens.

• 9. Seek the permanent dedication and management of critical habitat on Crown land

  Conservation groups across British Columbia are actively encouraging all levels of government to secure Crown lands with high biodiversity values as protected areas, parks, and ecological reserves.

• 10. Help groups help each other

  Some groups offer services such as training, legal expertise and networking assistance to other organizations.