Wildlands Conservation is actively involved in many different facets of environmental education, from designing formal programs for professionals, to educating the general public on relevant conservation issues. We work with various interest groups to design educational programs. We have experience in conducting surveys, focus groups and interviews to gather the data needed to tailor our programs to the target audience.
Wildlands
- Works with conservation groups in providing expert
biological opinion on land use issues throughout Florida.
- Implements
environmental education and outreach programs with local
communities and schools.
- Conducts studies focusing on public
knowledge, attitudes and behavior about wildlife and resource
management in Florida.
- Works with communities and local
governments to provide a linkage between the science community,
the public and the decision makers.
- Speaks to civic organizations,
school groups, university classes on topics that include,
but are not limited to: wildlife, long-term environmental
planning, land management, careers in conservation biology,
county conservation planning, and strategic areas for conservation.
Current Educational Initiatives
Gopher Tortoise
Authorized Agent Training Classes
Wildlands Conservation
has been certified by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC) to, in collaboration with the Ashton Biodiversity
Research and Preservation Institute, to offer the training
courses required to become an Authorized Gopher Tortoise
Agent. We offer classes throughout the state and have conducted
over twenty classes to date. The
training courses are designed so that the student leaves
with a good understanding of gopher tortoise life history,
the new Gopher Tortoise Permitting Guidelines, and the new
Gopher Tortoise Management Plan. We also offer introductory
classes on gopher tortoise natural history and ecology.
Inroductory Gopher Tortoise Natural History Courses
This course is designed for students with little or no education or experience working in Florida Ecosystems and/or with Gopher tortoises. We have observed that individuals require a certain level of knowledge in order to successfully complete the Gopher Tortoise permitting certification courses, so we developed this 2 day course. It is designed to provide students with a solid background related to Florida Ecology (e.g. ecosystems, soils, species identification, etc) and gopher tortoise biology and natural history. Please Contact us for more information on Florida Ecology and Gopher Tortoise natural history courses.
Please
see our website for more information: www.gophertortoisetraining.org
Frog Listening Network
Amphibian populations are declining worldwide. We also believe
that the best conservation is accomplished at the local
level. The Frog Listening Network (FLN), a program that
was conceived by the Hillsborough River Watershed Alliance,
is a means to that end. Its goals are two fold. First,
the FLN trains all interested parties (environmental organizations,
students, civic organizations, the public at large) how
to recognize frogs both by sight and sound. This increases
the public’s awareness of their surrounding environs
and an understanding of why frogs are important. Why are
frogs important? They are the “canary in the coal
mine” – due to their amphibious nature, they
are the first indicators when things go wrong in an ever-changing
environment. Secondly, frogs make their presence know because
of their species-specific calls. The calls, of which there
are 20 locally, can be easily learned by adults and children
alike. Our second goal, beyond public education, is to
collect data on frog distribution within the Hillsborough
River Watershed. Through time, this data may assist us
in making informed decisions related to land development,
water use, and environmental land management.
The repository
for this data is the Water Atlas, an interactive environmental
data base housed at the University of South Florida. www.hillsborough.wateratlas.usf.edu
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