School Ecology Program
This project is intended to augment the school life science curriculum by exposing students to workshops on local ecology and conservation, and to build stronger ties with the local Aboriginal community. The Board has expressed interest in seeing this program expanded to other communities.
Final Report: Executive Summary
The Williston School Ecology Program has completed its third year of programming, and has delivered all of the school ecology modules outlined in the project proposal. The modules, and the revisions made to them, were very well received by the school community, and interest in continuing this program remains consistently high. The high school module pilots were implemented for the first time this year, with overall good outcomes and valuable lessons learned. Volunteer engagement continues to be a cornerstone of this project, and provides expert knowledge, in-kind support, and exposure to career fields that are very valuable. The partnership with McLeod Lake Indian Band remains strong and active. An exciting avenue for program extension in Moberly Elementary school (serving Saulteau and West Moberly First Nations) has opened up, and potential new sources of funding to diversify the support portfolio for this program are outlined.
The Williston School Ecology Project aligns with the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program’s Peace Basin Plan (Section 4.3) in that it addresses the outlined ‘Stewardship and Education’ priorities. This project meets the criteria of having a “high educational, volunteer and/or community engagement component”, given that the recipients of the projects are K-12 students at the local schools and diverse volunteers from the community provide half of the time spent on this project. The activities undertaken as part of this project address habitat-based actions, whose goal is “improving general habitat conditions or ecosystem function”, in a long-term way by cultivating environmental stewardship, ecological knowledge and nature appreciation among the next generation of northern BC residents.
Click the provincial database link below to read the full final report for this project.