REGINA, Sask. — The prairie may look wide open and resilient, but the people working to protect it say what happens to its land, birds and wildlife is deeply connected to all of us.
That message was at the heart of Prairie Conservation: Birds, Rangelands & Biodiversity, a free, day-long gathering at the University of Regina on Wednesday.
Organized by the U of R Office of Sustainability and the Dr. John Archer Library & Archives, the event brought together researchers, conservation experts and community organizations to examine the relationship between healthy prairie ecosystems, wildlife and environmental health.
Gillian Van Der Ven, a librarian at the Archer Library who has an interest in bird conservation, says bringing researchers and community experts together gives people an opportunity to better understand the environment around them.
“For these events, they are open to the community and also campus, of course. I think bringing in the individuals at the institution that have expertise and individuals from the community that have knowledge about conservation, whether it’s prairie conservation or bird conservation, and sharing that with our campus and the community is just one way the university can provide information and give back to our community,” Van Der Ven said.
That included discussions about bird conservation in Regina and on campus, as well as the challenges facing burrowing owls.
Van Der Ven says the broader purpose is to help people understand how they can contribute to creating safer environments for wildlife.
“So just sharing the importance of that for our community and our environment and helping people discover ways to partake in that and create a safe environment for ourselves and for the environment around us,” she said.
Michael Shires, the library’s community engagement and communications librarian, says the event also connects local conservation work to a much larger international conversation.
“Part of the theme for this morning’s event was raising awareness of this year’s International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, which is a UN initiative,” Shires said. “And there’s events going on all over the world for this whole calendar year. So again, it connects rangelands, pastoralists, farmers and animals and birds.”
Shires says many people may not realize how closely those pieces are connected, which is one reason he believes academic libraries have a role in bringing the information to the public.
“I think there’s a role for academic libraries to educate not just our university community, but the broader community,” he said.
The event featured presentations from University of Regina researchers Dr. Amber Fletcher and Dr. Mel Hart.
Fletcher discussed the effects of climate change on land, communities, farmers and agriculture, while Hart explored the university’s herbarium collection of grasses and plants gathered in Regina and other areas over decades.
The afternoon program shifted toward birds, including the burrowing owl.
Laurie Johnson from the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre was scheduled to bring an ambassador owl to campus, giving the public a chance to learn more about the species and the risks it faces.
Graham Dixon McCollum of the Wilder Institute, a burrowing owl expert who tracks the birds’ migration routes into the United States, was also scheduled to speak.
Jeffrey Gamble of Nature Regina and Ryan Fisher from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum were set to discuss statistics and findings related to bird collisions in Regina and on the University of Regina campus.
Those collisions are one example of how human activity can affect wildlife, particularly during migration season.
Van Der Ven says the university has been documenting those impacts through volunteer monitoring walks around campus.
“This is the second iteration of this event,” she said. “We had one back in May that was in conjunction with migration season. And once again, we are in migration season for birds once more. So just knowing some of the risk that we impose as humans and having these buildings in place that birds can collide with and then taking some of that knowledge to our own homes and other places where we can assist with keeping birds safe.”
Shires says the challenges facing birds and prairie ecosystems are not isolated environmental issues.
“Climate change, climate catastrophe, it’s impacting agriculture and animals, and when those are in dire straits, it impacts us humans,” he said. “So reducing our carbon footprint, being aware of birds, trying to mitigate bird collisions, taking care of our land, working with local farmers. These are all interconnected things.”
For Van Der Ven, the hope is that people leave with a greater appreciation for the landscape around them and a better understanding of how they can help.
“I think just knowledge, education, and appreciation for what we have around us and how we can contribute to providing safer spaces, for example, for birds,” she said.
The Archer Library is also making its conservation resources available beyond the university community.
“We have many materials online and physical media that people can come in, in person,” Shires said. “We’re open to the public. Public can get a free library card and come and partake in our events.”
And the conservation conversation will continue beyond Wednesday. Shires says the library is preparing for Research Engagement Day on Oct. 8, a free event being organized with the University of Saskatchewan featuring Indigenous studies research and work by Indigenous researchers, followed by a screening of short films by film studies instructor Diane Ouellette.
For the organizers of Wednesday’s gathering, however, the larger message is about understanding how closely people, wildlife, agriculture and the prairie itself are connected.
Shires says recognizing those connections is an important first step toward protecting them.
“Again, just awareness of the environment and that it’s very fragile,” he said.
