AmbassadorWILD is new 3-year pilot project coming to the area to support sustainable tourism and responsible travel.

This seasonal summer program targets priority locations within the Fernie front and backcountry area that see regular volumes of tourism and recreational users.

AmbassadorWILD is an engagement, education, maintenance, monitoring, and data capture program in key locations in RDEK Area A Fernie area.  Led by Tourism Fernie in partnership with Elk River Alliance, RDEK, College of the Rockies - Fernie Campus, Mountain Adventure Skills Training (MAST) Program, Fernie Trails Alliance (FTA), and others.  This 3 year program has received funding from RDEK, Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture & Sport, Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, TECK, Tourism Fernie plus in-kind support from Elk River Alliance, Rec Sites & Trails BC, AdventureSMART, and more.

We're Hiring! See below for details!

This program is a result of outcomes from the RDEK Area A Sustainable Tourism Strategy Project and Fernie’s Tourism Master Plan. It is a new initiative that can be a model for other communities or regions to follow and partner with that supports sustainable tourism and recreation.

The AmbassadorWILD program, delivered by trained summer seasonal employees, with a potential volunteer support element, would primarily:

• engage with tourism and recreational users for the purpose of educating (re: safety, backcountry ethics, appropriate behaviours[1], etc), heritage interpretation (i.e. flora, fauna, history, culture) and thus improving the experience by providing further ‘locals’ tips, visitor information, and more.
• collect and report on data to track and document user demographic and feedback, use of the locations and potential impacts and observations for expert review and response.
• keep key sites clean of garbage, dismantle fire rings discouraging random wildfires, and light duty maintenance of the amenities and facilities.
• Priority locations include: Elk River, Heiko's Trail, Silver Springs and others.

The program would promote ‘best practices’ of similar programs and agencies from BC Parks, National Parks, Ocean Ambassadors Canada, Regional District of Central Okanagan Volunteer Ambassadors.

The pilot program also proposes an additional VolyWILD support program comprised of non-paid positions. Incentives would include training and assisting our AmbassadorWILD employees to help with job duties, ensure quality experiences to users, collect data, provide information and help with light duties.  Volunteers could then qualify in future for AmbassadorWILD employment positions.

For more information about this program, please email: AmbassadorWILD@tourismfernie.com.

Contract & Employment Opportunities starting Apr/May/June 2022:

• 1 Part-time, seasonal Program Manager
• 2 Full-time, seasonal Ambassadors

For job requirement details and how to apply please email: AmbassadorWild@TourismFernie.com