Habitat Advocate: Building Biodiversity in Our Community

Join other curious conservation peers for this introduction to native habitats! Join other curious conservation peers for this introduction to designing, building, and stewarding native habitats! This is the introductory class for the series and is required for a majority of the other classes as well as for those wishing to complete a Habitat Advocate Certification. Gain baseline awareness of why conservation landscaping is a multifaceted approach in solving our water, climate, and habitat crises. The scope of the Lancaster Conservancy Habitat Advocate Certificate program will also be shared. Students will receive a binder of compiled native habitat resources ($30 value). The Lancaster Conservancy has protected over 11,000 acres of natural lands, which are critically important to supporting biodiversity. Smaller patches of native habitats spread throughout urban landscapes are also essential to creating corridors of habitat – food and refuge – for wildlife. This is why we are offering our Habitat Advocate program at Tec Centro in Lancaster City. The cost of the Habitat Advocate classes covers instructor fees. If the cost of this class is prohibitive, please reach out to Keith Williams, VP of Engagement and Education, at [email protected]. Your Presenters Linda Ferich retired from a career in emergency and occupational health nursing in 2013 and became a PA Master Naturalist. She coordinates the Lancaster Conservancy’s Community Wildlife Habitat program, a partnership with National Wildlife Federation. Through this program, Lancaster County has become the first county in PA to become a certified NWF Community Wildlife Habitat. Linda enjoys doing property assessments to teach how to develop habitat and control stormwater. Linda studies native plants and designs ecological gardens as a certified Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional and student of Mt. Cuba Center’s Ecological Gardening program. She and a few conservation-minded friends formed the Lancaster Native Plant Alliance, a chapter of PA Native Plant Society. The alliance promotes the use of native plants in all landscape settings through collaboration, education, and advocacy. About Habitat Advocate Classes Note that this introductory course is required as a prerequisite before taking most of the other following classes in the Habitat Advocate series to ensure all students have a shared baseline of understanding on the topic of wildlife habitat and conservation landscaping. Future classes will build on the information learned in this class. Attendees ages 16 and over are invited but must be accompanied by an adult if younger than 18. Refund/Cancellation Policies Refund Policy: If you are unable to attend this event after purchasing a ticket, refund requests must be made at least two weeks before the event. Cancellation Policy: This event will be held rain or shine, with cancellation a day in advance for severe weather. If the Conservancy reschedules the event, attendees will be emailed and tickets will be automatically moved to the new date. If the Conservancy cancels the event, attendees will be notified via email and refunded. Thank you to our host Tec Centro and partners Waxwing EcoWorks Co. and the Spanish American Civic Association (SACA)! Photo: Elyse Jurgen