Victoria’s Secret helps with Alberta Foothills Conservation

The AFN is composed of local, provincial, national and international conservation groups and advocates for the establishment of new protected areas and sustainable forest management in the Foothills. The group would like to see an enlargement of Kakwa Wildland Park south of Grande Prairie and the establishment of new protected areas in the Little Smoky between Hinton and Grande Cache and the Bighorn near Rocky Mountain House.

Chuck Priestley, AFN’s new coordinator, will focus on communications with local communities, industry and government agencies to make them aware of the urgent need for new protected areas in the Foothills, a natural region that currently has only 1.2% protection. “This is exciting because we have an opportunity to take meaningful action in the Foothills and many of the stakeholders would like to see increased habitat preservation in that area. Afterall, the Foothills are the gateway to our beloved Rocky Mountains and are critical for wildlife such as Caribou” said Priestley.

“In the past we have struggled with a lack of capacity to work on this,” says Helene Walsh with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society Northern Alberta also part of the Foothills Network. “Now we will be able to exert a focused effort on gaining habitat protection. It is very timely too with the caribou recovery planning pretty much done for the Foothills and the recent release of the Alberta Government’s Draft Land-use Framework.”

As part of their commitment towards wildlife preservation and habitat stewardship, Victoria’s Secret sanctioned a study entitled ‘Mapping High Conservation Value and Endangered Forests in the Alberta Foothills’. The main finding of the report was clear, not enough habitat is currently protected in the Foothills and an expanded protected areas network in the region was the main recommendation. “We are proud to support the AFN and hope that our support will help facilitate the implementation of the recommendations from the Alberta Foothills report” said Tom Katzenmeyer, Limited Brands’ senior vice-president of investor, media and community relations.

Alberta Conservation groups are delighted with the commitment Victoria’s Secret is
demonstrating in trying to solve a problem they have become aware of in the Alberta Foothills. “It has been a pleasure working with Victoria’s Secret to get this position funded, it will make a huge difference in our ability to mount an effective campaign and get more protection for wildlife habitat in the Foothills,” said Glen Semenchuk Executive Director of the Federation of Alberta Naturalists and member of the Foothills Network. “The partnership between Victoria’s Secret and the AFN is a good example of how industry and the conservation community can work together. We hope that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to such partnerships” said Semenchuk.

Potential contacts for reporters:
Chuck Priestley
Alberta Foothills Network Coordinator
780-427-8124
chuckp@fanweb.ca
Glen Semenchuk
Federation of Alberta Naturalists
780-427-8124
info@fanweb.ca
Helene Walsh
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
780-432-4913
Helene_w@telus.net

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