Evaluating characteristics of community riparian awareness program interactions

As part of its mandate to evaluate and monitor program delivery, the Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society (Cows and Fish) has commissioned independent evaluations to examine the effectiveness and applicability of the community-based riparian awareness and management program. The society's aim is to improve the understanding of landscape function, to better enable landowners and managers to make management decisions. The staff interaction evaluation examined staff ability to deliver certain valued characteristics, and identified whether the program and staff increased awareness and management action. Respondents rated staff highly on all characteristics. Landowners that participated in riparian health programming as part of community/watershed groups were 19% more likely to have learned new information and 21 % more likely to implement management change than those that were not part of a group. Repeat interactions are critical to learning new information and influencing management. All those with frequent interactions had learned new information, compared to only 70% of those with very little interaction. A diverse array of interactions led respondents to alter their management, indicating the need for a wide variety of extension tools and activities. The results strongly support the need for a community-based approach in resource management and awareness activities, which enables repeat, ongoing and diverse interactions with extension staff.