Piedmont Wildlife Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. The center conducts programs in nature education and wildlife conservation.
| Type | 501(c)(3) organization - Outdoor Education |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Durham, North Carolina |
Area served | Triangle Area of North Carolina |
Key people | Executive Director - Karen McCall |
| Website | www.piedmontwildlifecenter.org |
Inspiring people to develop a positive lifelong connection with nature & encouraging active engagement in conservation. Piedmont Wildlife Center accomplishes this mission through a community oriented approach to nature education, leadership development and conservation science.
The Piedmont Wildlife Center was founded in 2003. The office is located at Leigh Farm Park which is an 82.8 acre city park in South Durham. The center itself is located in a log cabin at the end of the Leigh Farm road. This is the location of their main office and outdoor raptor viewing exhibits.
Piedmont Wildlife Center's nature education programs reach adults, teens, and children in the Triangle Region of North Carolina. The programs feature hands on experiences with a focus on primitive skills, field natural history, nature conservation and community leadership. They are inspired by the tradition of Coyote Mentoring, established by the Eight Shields Institute.
Piedmont Wildlife Center supports conservation projects with a goal of developing a greater understanding of the current state of bio-diversity in the greater Piedmont area in order to conserve local species and habitats.
Leigh Farm Park (home of PWC) is a critical biological buffer area that links a chain of ecosystems across the Piedmont region, maintaining a wildlife corridor across central North Carolina and beyond. The park and the surrounding North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) area include five habitat types: bottomland hardwood forest, upland hardwood forest, pine forest, forested wetlands and fields.
Habitat fragmentation is a significant threat to wildlife. As a means of habitat protection, Piedmont Wildlife Center (PWC), associated scientists, and volunteers are currently surveying the biodiversity of Leigh Farm Park. Past survey methods have included animal tracking, the use of trail cameras, and GPS and GIS software.
The goal of this ongoing inventory is to inform a more complete understanding of the current condition of diversity in the parklands—this information shapes the education and outreach programs PWC organizes in support of biodiversity in the greater Piedmont area.
Biodiversity is the biological variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level. Terrestrial biodiversity is usually greater near the equator, which is the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth, and is richer in the tropics. These tropical forest ecosystems cover less than ten percent of earth's surface, and contain about ninety percent of the world's species. Marine biodiversity is usually higher along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the future as a primary result of deforestation.
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international organizations involved. Generally speaking though, protected areas are understood to be those in which human presence or at least the exploitation of natural resources is limited.
This is an index of conservation topics. It is an alphabetical index of articles relating to conservation biology and conservation of the natural environment.
In-situ conservation is the on-site conservation or the conservation of genetic resources in natural populations of plant or animal species, such as forest genetic resources in natural populations of Teagan species. This process protects the inhabitants and ensures the sustainability of the environment and ecosystem.
Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on natural and social sciences, and the practice of natural resource management.
Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology.
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations.
Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habitat destruction, degradation, fragmentation, overexploitation, poaching, pollution and climate change. The IUCN estimates that 27,000 species of the ones assessed are at risk for extinction. Expanding to all existing species, a 2019 UN report on biodiversity put this estimate even higher at a million species. It is also being acknowledged that an increasing number of ecosystems on Earth containing endangered species are disappearing. To address these issues, there have been both national and international governmental efforts to preserve Earth's wildlife. Prominent conservation agreements include the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). There are also numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) dedicated to conservation such as the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, and Conservation International.
Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG), formerly known as Kadoorie Experimental and Extension Farm (嘉道理試驗及推廣農場), or Kadoorie Farm (嘉道理農場), was originally set up to aid poor farmers in the New Territories in Hong Kong. It later shifted its focus to promote biodiversity conservation in Hong Kong and south China, and greater environmental awareness. It is located near Pak Ngau Shek, encompassing Kwun Yam Shan in the central New Territories; The Farm was built in a valley with streams, woodlands and terraces in 1956 by the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association. Now it is managed to integrate nature conservation, including a rescue and rehabilitation programme for native animals, along with holistic education and practices in support of a transition to sustainable living. The farm attracts about 3000 to 5000 visitors per week.
Guanacaste Conservation Area is an administrative area which is managed by the Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion (SINAC) of Costa Rica for conservation in the northwestern part of Costa Rica. It contains three national parks, as well as wildlife refuges and other nature reserves. The area contains the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site, which comprises four areas.
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is the "umbrella" organization for the world zoo and aquarium community. Its mission is to provide leadership and support for zoos, aquariums, and partner organizations of the world in animal care and welfare, conservation of biodiversity, environmental education and global sustainability.
India is home to a large variety of wildlife. It is a biodiversity hotspot with its various ecosystems ranging from the Himalayas in the north to the evergreen rain forests in the south, the desert sands of the west to the marshy mangroves of the east. India lies within the Indomalayan realm and is the home to about 7.6% of mammal, 14.7% of amphibian, 6% of bird, 6.2% of reptilian, and 6.0% of flowering plant species. India's forest lands nurture about 500 species of mammals and 2000+ bird species.
The Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve is a constituent of the University of California Natural Reserve System. It is located off State Route 1 in the Big Sur area on California's central coast, fifty miles south of Monterey and adjacent to the Big Creek State Marine Reserve and Big Creek State Marine Conservation Area.
The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small, landlocked nation nestled in the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalaya. To its north lies the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and to the west, south and east lies the Indian states of Sikkim, Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Earthwatch Institute is an international environmental charity founded as Educational Expeditions International in 1971 near Boston (USA) by Robert A. Citron and Clarence Truesdale, then superintendent of Vermont public schools. It is one of the largest global underwriters of scientific field research in archaeology, paleontology, marine life, biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife. For over forty years, Earthwatch has delivered a unique citizen science model to raise funds and recruit individuals, students, teachers and corporate fellows to participate in critical field research to understand nature's response to accelerating global change. Earthwatch's work supports hundreds of Ph.D. researchers across dozens of countries, conducting over 100,000 hours of research annually.
Hlawga Park is an open zoo in Myanmar's Yangon Region, covering 6.23 km2 (2.41 sq mi) that was established in 1982. It was created to protect evergreen, mixed deciduouss and swamp forest and for environmental education. Located in Mingaladon Township, it is jointly managed by the Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division and private enterprises. The nature park is close to Yangon and includes an 818-acre wildlife park, a 62-acre (25-hectare) mini-zoo and a 660-acre (267-hectare) buffer zone.
Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, located 6 miles south of Macon, Georgia, United States, was established in 1989 to protect, maintain and enhance the forested wetland ecosystem of the Ocmulgee River floodplain. It opened to the public in 2000 and currently consists of 6,500 acres situated along the fall line separating the Piedmont and Coastal Plains. The refuge has a diversity of vegetation communities, including mixed hardwood-pine, bottomland hardwoods, tupelo gum swamp forests, creeks, tributaries, beaver swamps and oxbow lakes. The refuge is rich in wildlife diversity including white-tailed deer, wood ducks, black bears, alligators, wild turkey, a nesting pair of bald eagles and excellent wintering habitat for waterfowl. Extensive bottomland hardwoods provide critical habitat for neotropical songbirds of concern, such as Swainson's warbler, wood thrush, prothonotary warbler and yellow-billed cuckoo. The combination of warm weather and wet areas at Bond Swamp provide ideal conditions for a variety of reptile and amphibian species.
Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge is a 35,000-acre (140 km2) National Wildlife Refuge established in 1939 and located in central Georgia. It is primarily an upland forest dominated by loblolly pine on the ridges with hardwoods found along the creek bottoms and in scattered upland coves. Clear streams and beaver ponds provide ideal wetland habitat for wood ducks and other wetland dependent species. In the early 19th century the European settlers arrived in abundance and began to clear the land to plant a variety of crops. The settlers removed more than 90% of the forest. The continuous planting of cotton caused serious erosion and soil infertility. By the late 1870s they had abandoned more than a third of the land because the land could not sustain crops.
Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1989 to protect and enhance wooded wetlands consisting of bottomland hardwoods and swamps with high waterfowl value along the Roanoke River. The extensive bottomland hardwood habitat of the Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge is part of what the Nature Conservancy calls "one of the last great places."
Chicago Wilderness is a regional alliance of more than 250 different organizations that work together to improve the quality of life of the individuals and the many other species living in the Chicago (Illinois) area. Through the restoration and sustenation of the biological diversity that once encompassed the lands, their fundamental objective, to preserve the naturally occurring lands and waters in that region, is being made a reality. Through these activities, Chicago Wilderness played a major role in protecting and replenishing the naturally occurring ecosystems in the Chicago area as well as motivating people to become more aware and involved in the preservation of these lands and waters. Chicago Wilderness had continued to blossom through the funding and donations of many sources including private contributions, the member organizations, and state and federal grants.