BC educators and schools have until February 15th to apply for a Get Outdoors (GO) Grant. These grants provide funding for activities that connect K-12 students with the outdoors and support hands-on learning experiences about the environment. Last year, HCTF Education awarded more than 70 GO grants totaling over $100,000 to get 7650+ students learning outdoors. For more information on grant criteria and how to apply, click here.
February 2nd has the distinction of being both Groundhog and World Wetlands Day.
Across North America this morning, people tuned in to find out if representative members of the species Marmota monax would spot their shadows, foretelling another six weeks of winter weather. You can see the results of the groundhog’s prognostications here. Though British Columbia is lacking its own furry celebrity forecaster, it would seem we’re not missing much: an analysis of the accuracy of predictions by legendary groundhog forecaster Punxsutawney Phil using meteorological data from 1969 onward revealed a success rate of only 36%. Besides, BC’s groundhogs are still likely to be fast asleep, typically waiting to emerge from their deep winter slumber until March, or even later. Their cousins, the endangered Vancouver Island Marmot, often don’t emerge until May!
While it may be fruitless to go searching for groundhogs at this time of year, there’s no reason not to get outdoors and celebrate World Wetlands Day. February 2nd also marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands, back in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty that provides a framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. Wetlands make up approximately 6% of BC, and provide critical habitat for fish, birds, and other wildlife. Indeed, most of the province’s wildlife use wetlands at some stage their life cycle, and many of our at-risk species are wetland-dependent. Each year, HCTF provides grants to many projects working to restore wetlands in BC, including the Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Wetlands Partnership Program.
Here are some more of our favourite photo contest entries:
Congratulations to Hal Mitchell, the Grand Prize winner of HCTF’s first photo contest!
Not even torrential rain could dampen the spirits of young naturalists determined to participate in the annual Christmas Bird Count. Volunteer veteran birders gave Vancouver families a quick lesson on proper use of binoculars and bird identification tips before heading out with them into Stanley Park to see how many species they could identify. Click on the video below to see how they did!
The Stanley Park Bird Count for Kids was co-hosted by the Young Naturalist’s Club of BC (YNC), the Stanley Park Ecological Society, and Bird Studies Canada, all current HCTF grant recipients.
If you’re interested in getting your family out to explore the outdoors, visit YNC’s website for information about local chapters and how to become a Nature Club member.
If you missed the Christmas Bird Count, you can still catch the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), taking place February 13-16, 2015. Visit the GBBC website for details on how to participate.
HCTF understands that extenuating circumstances may occasionally prevent a project from being completed within its original timeline. That is why we give proponents the opportunity to apply for a contract extension if they won’t be able to complete their project by March 31st. Today, emails went out to all HCTF proponents with active 2014-15 projects, providing detailed information about submitting a contract extension request. Here are some highlights:
HCTF assembles a special committee to review the requests, so it is important that they are submitted on time.
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