The Wildlife Ambassador Program

The Wildlife Ambassador Program (WAP) launched in 2018 with the aim to get more community members and law enforcement officers involved in wildlife rescue, and humane Human-Wildlife Conflict resolution.

Pre-register now!

Our Vision

One Health, Sustainable development and Coexistence in Balance. People understand the Importance of One Health and are able to prevent and mitigate Human-Wildlife Conflict and emergencies, and stop Illegal Wildlife Trade.

Our Mission

To improve Wildlife Conflict and emergency response and to reduce Illegal Wildlife Trade by providing law enforcement and community with capacity building, tools and response ability.

What is the Wildlife Ambassador Program?

The Wildlife Ambassador Program (WAP) is an outreach and educational program that is set out to decrease and wildlife loss through Human Wildlife Conflict and Illegal Wildlife Trade. The program uses a One Health approach, which explains the connections of our human health with animal health and the health of the environment.

The risks of future pandemics and zoonotic diseases, simple prevention and response mechanisms available are at the forefront of the program in order to help people to stay safe, while being part of the solution. The Wildlife Ambassador program is especially for Belize enforcement officers, conservation partners and organizations as well as fellow wildlife conservation enthusiasts and community members who want to learn how to protect themselves and their loved ones while helping the wildlife of Belize. WAP will offer a combined online and in person capacity building program.

IN 2022/23 WAP will host a number of workshops nationwide and cover an array of topics from Species Identification for Wildlife of Belize, commonly seen conflicts and emergencies, Legislation, Wildlife Emergency and Response, and much more (See list below). After workshops, Ambassadors will also be equipped with the Wildlife toolkit that includes materials such as field Pocket Guides on Human-Wildlife Conflict and Wildlife And The Law. End 2022 BWRC will organize a National Wildlife Ambassador Conference (stay tuned for the dates to be set soon)

Getting Started

Initial Surveys and Registration

In order to assess training needs, initial knowledge and efficiency of our training efforts, we must ask you to start by filling out the Pre-registration Initial surveys. This will allow us to assess needs and priorities for further training and educational workshops as well as successful areas after workshops.

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Our Goals and Objectives

Goal:

To Mitigate & Prevent Biodiversity loss from Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) and Illegal Wildlife Traffic (IWT) through increased awareness and training, and community collaboration with enforcement agencies and NGO partners.

Objective 1:

Increase awareness of HWC causes, prevention, and solutions thorugh

Worskhops

The 2018 Wildlife Ambassador workshop was attended by governmental agencies, law enforcement, and community Wildlife Ambassadors. The workshop was funded in part by the World Wildlife Fund Russell E. Train Education for Nature Fund, and the Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT).

Objective 3:

Increase cooperation & response ability between enforcement, PA managers, NGO Partners, community members through training workshops.

Objective 4:

To support effective and timely response to HWC, IWT, disease monitoring, and other wildlife emergencies through BWRC veterinary services, emergency hotline and rehab.

Objective 2:

Increase awareness of legislation, common cases and impacts of IWT.

Wildlife Ambassador Training Topics

Wildlife species of Belize

Wildlife Identification: Commonly seen Birds of Belize

Wildlife Identification: Commonly seen Mammals of Belize

Wildlife Identification: Commonly seen Reptiles of Belize

One Health and Zoonosis

Wildlife Legislation in Belize

Common Human-Wildlife Conflict Cases in Belize, Prevention and Mitigation

Wildlife Crime and Forensics

Basic Wildlife Health Assessment

Wildlife Emergency Assessment and Rehabilitation

Wildlife Stabilization and Transport

Wildlife Capture and Transport

Use of SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool)

Would you like to see additional topics?

let us know

Very soon, we will have pre-recorded lectures which participants will be able to do fully online while some topics will need to be done using face-face instructions. Online ambassadors will enroll in a combination of self-paced and live online lectures. Each presentation and topic will have short quizzes to complete to ensure understanding of concepts presented. Topics like capture and restraint will be covered during in-person workshops conducted once COVID allows.