The Lethbridge river valley is home to hundreds of species of birds, animals, and flowering plants. Each year garbage and debris gets caught in the coulees turning these unique, naturally-formed features into unsightly spots that have the potential to injure the wildlife species that call them home. Invasive species also pose a threat to the river valley’s biodiversity with the potential to negatively impact local plant communities.

Friends of the Helen Schuler Nature Centre (HSNC) Society’s conservation projects: the Coulee Clean-Up, Shoreline Clean-Up, and Weed Pulls demonstrate positive action in protecting the natural landscape through education and focusing volunteer efforts on improving the local ecosystem.

 Through the coordination and training of volunteers, Friends of the HSNC teaches the community the values of habitat protection and environmental stewardship by enhancing their awareness of nature and by giving them the educational tools to recognize and incorporate these values into their day to day lives.

The Friends of the HSNC works with volunteers to identify invasive plant species for removal; categorize types of trash for consistency of data submitted to the national Shoreline Clean-Up database; and understand and prioritize favourable conditions to minimize disturbance of fragile coulee slopes. They focus their training efforts on the local environment so that participants have a better sense of place and what makes “here” special.