Active management and restoration of natural areas plays a critical role in biodiversity conservation across ecosystems. Volunteers can play an essential role in increasing regional capacity for natural areas conservation, yet not all organizations have the staffing capacity for volunteer training or management. To help build these capacities, the Natural Areas Conservation Training (N-ACT) Program at The Morton Arboretum outside of Chicago, Illinois, provides in-depth ecological restoration training through both interactive online modules and expert-led field sessions. This blended learning format is grounded in a multi-pronged assessment of audience needs and has resulted in increased participation in and reach of the program.
Results/Conclusions
Program evaluation shows that the program effectively builds natural areas volunteerism by supporting the development of deeply engaged advocates for ecosystem health and volunteer leaders. Key strategies revealed through evaluation and through 10 years of experience with the program into how to strengthen capacity to manage natural areas by creating and grow a highly skilled and confident community of natural resource volunteers include: developing confidence through a variety of informal education strategies, regularly scheduled structured touch points with landowners, developing management plans with volunteer input and feedback, and creating networks among volunteers, landowners, and ecological experts.