Surveys have been conducted at 30 national parks and 1
national historic site in 28 separate field units to assess the level of
species at risk educational programming since 2001.
This report summarizes the 2002-03 data from 27 national parks and 1
national historic site and compares this data from the same locations from
2001-02.
The last two years since the creation of the Species at
Risk public education team have been a time of increasing achievement.
This summary confirms the commitment of Parks Canada’s heritage
presentation staff to communicate species at risk messages using all types of
media.
|
|
2001-02 |
2002-03
|
%
Increase |
|
Personal
Presentation Programs |
175 |
762 |
335
% |
|
Non-Personal
Media Projects |
88 |
135 |
53
% |
|
TOTAL
|
263 |
897 |
241
% |
· over 930 species at risk personal programs were delivered to a variety of audiences.
·
a total of 223 non-personal media projects featuring
species at risk messages were reported.
·
the Species at Risk public education program has touched over 1.8
million people, including school groups, local community members,
stakeholders and our visitors from across Canada and from around the world.
· Overall, in 2001, 81 % of the protected areas surveyed had SAR public education programming. This value increased to 93 % in 2002.
The majority of the increase in SAR public education has been in the area of personal programming, although we may see a more dramatic increase in non-media programming next year due to the fact that this vehicle of communication tends to require more time to implement.
Species
at Risk Personal Presentation Programming
In 2001-02, 74 % of natural heritage protected areas reported having SAR personal programming. This value increased to 85 % in 2002-03.
|
Personal
Presentation Programs |
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
%
Increase |
|
ON
SITE PROGRAMS |
|
|
|
|
Guided
Hikes |
36 |
206 |
472
% |
|
Theatre |
42 |
141 |
236
% |
|
Interpretive
talks |
4 |
111 |
2675
% |
|
Other |
9 |
70 |
678
% |
|
Children’s
Programs |
16 |
41 |
156
% |
|
Campfire
Programs |
10 |
24 |
140
% |
|
Special
Events |
9 |
14 |
55
% |
|
TOTAL
On
Site Programs |
126 |
607 |
382
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
OUTREACH |
|
|
|
|
School
related |
27
|
104
|
285
% |
|
Other |
12 |
22 |
83
% |
|
Community
based |
7
|
22
|
214
% |
|
Trade
Shows |
3
|
7
|
133
% |
|
TOTAL
Outreach |
49 |
155 |
216
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
OVERALL
TOTAL |
175 |
762 |
335
% |
· Theatre programs and guided hikes were consistently the most popular methods of communicating species at risk messages to our on-site visitors. School programming was the most popular outreach activity for species at risk public education.
|
Personal
Presentation Programs |
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
|
|
ON
SITE |
126 |
607 |
482
% |
|
OUTREACH
|
49 |
155 |
316
% |
· In 2002-2003, nearly 4 onsite (park-based) programs were being offered to every outreach program presented.
Personal Presentation Recipients
|
Personal
Presentations |
Recipients
2002-03 |
Percentage |
|
ON
SITE PROGRAMS |
|
|
|
Interpretive
Talks |
22948 |
34
% |
|
Theatre |
20093 |
29
% |
|
Guided
Hikes |
6897 |
10
% |
|
Campfire
Programs |
6907 |
10
% |
|
Other
* |
4
842 |
7
% |
|
Children’s
Programs |
3838 |
6
% |
|
Special
Events |
2807 |
4
% |
|
TOTAL |
68
332 |
100
% |
|
|
|
|
|
OUTREACH |
|
|
|
School
related |
11831 |
57
% |
|
Trade
Shows |
4639 |
23
% |
|
Other
* |
2991 |
14
% |
|
Community
based |
1256 |
6
% |
|
TOTAL |
20
717 |
100
% |
OTHER:Canoe paddles, stewardship work, interpretive transit, staffed exhibits, tours, community consultations, awareness campaigns, etc.
·
This is the second year of the species at risk public education
survey. Due to the fact that
field staff could provide more accurate statistics for 2002-03, we have
decided to use this data as the baseline.
|
Personal
Presentation Recipients |
|
2002-03 |
|
ON
SITE PROGRAMS |
68
332 |
76.7
% |
|
OUTREACH |
20
717 |
23.3
% |
|
TOTAL |
89
049 |
100
% |
Species
at Risk Non-personal Media
In
2001-02, 56 % of locations surveyed reported non-personal media with
species at risk messaging. There
was a dramatic increase in 2002-03 as 81 % indicated as presenting SAR
messaging through the use of non-personal media.
|
Non-Personal
Media Projects |
2001 |
2002 |
%
Increase |
|
PRINTED
MATERIAL |
|
|
|
|
Outdoor
Signs |
23 |
42 |
83
% |
|
Brochures |
10 |
21 |
110 % |
|
Fact
Sheets |
7 |
18 |
157 % |
|
Others |
13 |
13 |
0 |
|
Indoor
Signs |
6 |
7 |
17 % |
|
Posters |
2 |
7 |
250 % |
|
Books |
1 |
5 |
400 % |
|
Games |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
TOTAL
- Printed
Material |
64 |
114 |
78
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
AUDIOVISUAL |
|
|
|
|
Videos
/ CD-ROMS |
6 |
5 |
0 |
|
Radio |
8 |
4 |
0 |
|
Cassettes |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Projections |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Internet
* |
6 |
14 |
133
% |
|
Other |
0 |
3 |
n/a |
|
TOTAL
– Audiovisual |
21 |
26 |
24
% |
OTHER: Bookmarks, mousepads, magnets, newsletters, displays, news articles, surveys, multi-media presentations, magazines, puzzles, etc.
·
The
statistics demonstrate that the most popular methods of communication were
generally consistent over the two-year period.
|
Nonpersonal
media projects |
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
|
|
PRINTED
MATERIAL |
64 |
114 |
81.4
% |
|
AUDIOVISUAL |
21 |
26 |
18.6
% |
Recipients
of Non-personal Media
|
Non-Personal
Media |
Recipients
2002-2003 |
Percentage |
|
PRINTED
MATERIAL |
|
|
|
Outdoor
Signs |
691
778 |
58
% |
|
Brochures |
266
800 |
22
% |
|
Fact
Sheets |
124
030 |
10
% |
|
Indoor
Signs |
101
188 |
8
% |
|
Posters |
6
950 |
1
% |
|
Others |
4
900 |
0.5
% |
|
Books |
2
226 |
0.5
% |
|
Games |
0 |
0 |
|
Maps |
0 |
0 |
|
TOTAL Printed Material |
1
197 872 |
100
% |
|
|
|
|
|
AUDIOVISUAL |
|
|
|
Radio |
303
333 |
84
% |
|
Videos
/ CD-ROMS |
30
400 |
9
% |
|
Other
(*) |
21
806 |
6
% |
|
Internet
(*) |
4
000 |
1
% |
|
Projections |
0 |
0 |
|
Cassettes |
0 |
0 |
|
TOTAL
Audiovisual |
359
539 |
100
% |
* OTHER: Bookmarks, mousepads, magnets, newsletters, displays, news articles, surveys, multi-media presentations, magazines, puzzles, etc.
**
INTERNET: these
statistics do not include content on the Parks Canada web site.
·
In
2002-2003, outdoor signs and brochures played a very major role as the
recipients of these communication tools represented 95 % of the overall
audiences for printed media whereas radio had the highest number of recipients
for audiovisual media.
|
Non-personal
recipients |
2002-03 |
|
|
PRINTED
MATERIAL |
1197872 |
77
% |
|
AUDIOVISUAL |
359539 |
23
% |
|
TOTAL |
1
557 711 |
|
Analysis
We still feel that there is more data to be captured for this survey as there was significant Parks Canada species at risk messaging communicated via mass media. This includes both regional and national television stations and newspapers with significant distributions. One of our challenges will be to determine their impact on our SAR public education efforts. We must also determine how to compare mass media results to results from other communication methods. The quality of the connections made through mass media versus that of a personal programming are just not the same. To be confident of our reporting, our data represents an underestimation of the actual impact of our SAR messaging.
It
is important to note that the national parks in the northern field units were
not included in either survey as species at risk public education is not a
strong priority in these areas. The
focus for communication is placed on public safety issues.
It is for this reason along with a lack of staff, time and resources
and conflicting priorities that we do not expect to see northern parks
actively engaged in species at risk public education programming in the short
term.
.
Where
do we go from here?
Continue to provide
funding
Species at risk issues are a proven priority at the field level and this survey demonstrates their commitment to the program. However, both financial resources and staff time are factors limiting this commitment that could lead to a decrease in programming. We can expect an increase in SAR public education programming as a result of the financial support from both the public education fund and the recovery action funds, now combined under the recovery action and education fund. This fund is providing the additional means to augment resources and respond to the needs of field staff.
Numbers are not always the goal
The species at risk public education fund may not necessarily result in large numbers of programs or recipients. In fact, we can expect that these values often are or will be lower than many other projects since they focused on specific target audiences such as local communities and stakeholders, rather than a general public audience. These efforts involve a more intimate and personal connection to its audience as it is performed on a much smaller scale to allow for more of an impact on the audience. Messaging can be described as balance between quality vs quantity. Targeting smaller groups may not produce the big numbers, but if that group can have a direct impact on species recovery, it is worth the investment.
Move the focus to
priority audiences
It is recognized that the majority of our efforts are made for on-site personal programming for visitors rather than outreach programs for communities. And although it is this latter audience that tends to have a greater impact on the issues facing our species at risk, it is during the summer months that field units have the capacity to plan and deliver programming. How can we work towards species recovery with this challenge?
Need for system-wide A/V products
Investments to be made on a national level can be inferred through the analysis of this survey. In the field, printed material was developed 4 times as often than audio-visual materials. Printed materials have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive and do not require months of preparation whereas audio-visual tools, such as videos, are time consuming and costly. Audiovisual tools can be very effective medias of messaging as they can have an emotional impact on its audience that is more difficult to reproduce with printed material. National efforts could fill this need by developing a suite of audiovisual materials that would be relevant and useful across the system.
Prepared by: Shawna Lee Currie