Metro Vancouver welcomed nearly 6,000 individuals – from students to special interest groups and the general public – to its Watershed Education Program in 2019.
The program aims to give participants an opportunity to see where their water comes from through tours and school programs that foster an understanding of the value of our water resource, helps participants recognize their connection to it, develop a sense of pride and confidence in the water supply, and become champions for sustainability.
The watershed tours target three distinct groups: the general public for the summer and winter tours, school field trips throughout the year, and special interest groups. In 2019, about 2,000 individuals on 56 tours participated in these public programs, while Metro Vancouver also facilitated requests by special interest groups, hosting 18 tours and more than 600 individuals.
Metro Vancouver’s Exploring our Watersheds program, offered to youth in Grades 4 and 5 and high school students, was also well attended in 2019 with 102 field trips in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve (LSCR) and the Coquitlam Watershed. There were close to 3,000 participants in these programs and an additional 18 programs for high school students.
In 2019, Metro Vancouver also launched the “Painting the Watersheds” program – a watercolour landscape painting class in the Capilano Watershed – as well as the “Bear Aware” program, which included setting up wildlife educations booths in the LSCR.
Given the continued high participation and Metro Vancouver board-level support, Metro Vancouver expects to engage even more participants through the watershed programs in 2020.
