Projects
We are creating purposeful change one step at a time with our projects.
Offering Bear-Resistant Bins in Partnership with the City Of Nelson
We are pleased to announce that in partnership with the City of Nelson, we are now offering IGBC-certified Toter bear-resistant garbage cans in 64 or 96 gallon sizes. The city will purchase them at their cost and we will facilitate storage and distribution. They are expensive, but at city cost they are still about $200 less than retail. We require a 40 bin minimum to secure the quoted prices and place the order, but we are hopeful to reach that quota. Every bit of garbage that is made inaccessible to bears is a win. Currently for a limited time only.
Community Outreach
We plan to support and encourage the municipal adoption and practice of BC’s Bear Smart Community Program. This includes existing in the community at the same time with bears cohesively (coexistence). Coexistence between humans and bears is promoted by: (a) providing increased public awareness through community engagement and education; and (b) increasing accountability and enforcement of wildlife protection regulations and bylaws; and, (c) reviewing and disseminating publicly accessible information. This is achieved through community outreach and education, school and youth education, local business and city council/mayor collaboration.
Education
Through education, we feel we can cooperate in the protection of our local wildlife and strengthen our community, allowing humans and wildlife to cohabitate within our city with less conflict. We believe, by reaching out to, and engaging our youth in the importance of managing wildlife attractants to help preserve our natural wildlife and maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem that these values will be carried forward to protect and preserve our community's wildlife population and ecological environment. Furthermore, by educating the citizens of Nelson and working with the mayor and city council this project allows the community to live harmoniously with nature, protecting wildlife. Nelson relies heavily on tourism and requires the maintenance of a reputation protecting the surrounding wildlife
Collaboration
The Ursa Project is a registered nonprofit society based in Nelson, BC. We are a working group of volunteers that is deeply concerned about the alarmingly high number of lethally destroyed bears stemming from human-bear conflict in our city. We are passionate about helping to protect the local black bear population. Our primary objective is to help develop and encourage implementation of solutions for minimizing attractants and human-bear conflicts. To date we have devoted hundreds of volunteer hours forming our society and dedicating our time to create and develop this project, each of us coming from diverse backgrounds bringing unique skills and qualifications to the group.