Located in the San Fernando Valley, Wildlife Learning Center is home to many species, including some endangered ones. They work on education and public outreach covering everything from science to conservation. We were able to conduct a brief interview with them over email to learn more about the importance of education and how the pandemic has affected their work. Here are their responses:
What role does education play in conserving endangered species? How do the specific programs at the wildlife learning center fulfill this?
Education is incredibly important in conserving endangered species. Even small changes can make a difference when people are aware of how they can help - for example not purchasing products that contain palm oil (since the production of it has increased deforestation)
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your organization's ability to educate people on this topic? How have you had to adjust?
COVID-19 did prevent us from going out to schools for outreach programs but we were still able to offer private tours throughout most of the shut down which was great. We did adjust slightly - we started offering virtual programs to schools so we were still able to offer educational programs that way.
How has COVID-19 affected other conservation efforts like the Species Survival Plans?
Our SSP programs that we are a part of were not really affected by COVID-19
Right now many people are still being affected by the pandemic and preoccupied with their own anxieties. How do you recommend we continue to think about environmental conservation in these troubling times?
No matter if we are at home or out I think we can all be conscious of how we are affecting our environment. Even at home, we can still continue to learn about conservation and the efforts being put in to make changes for the better.
When it comes to protecting endangered species on a larger scale, what actions do you think we as a society should take?
It is very important to work on preserving animals' habitats and really work on co-existing with wildlife that is around us.
Here's a link to their website if you want to learn more! https://wildlifelearningcenter.org/
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