Ecological Report Cards can be an effective way of telling the story July 8, 2008
Posted by bruce mcgranahan in advocacy, environmental education, nature protection, outreach.Tags: advocacy, environmental education, outreach
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Ecological report cards can grab media attention and motivate volunteers. Increasingly, watershed organizations are discovering that report cards and score cards are a powerful tool for snagging media attention and public awareness at the local level as well.
“Depending on how they are produced, they can be very effective mechanisms for getting the public interested and involved,” said Joe Rieger, watershed restoration manager for the Elizabeth River Project.
Some rate their rivers with letter grades, others with numbers. The Elizabeth River Project uses labels such as “degraded,” “marginal,” and “good.”
The South River Federation published its second scorecard in 2008, rating different aspects of the river on a scale from one to 10, and presented their findings to the Anne Arundel County Council.
“We found a tremendous amount of interest in the scorecard results,” said executive director Matt Berres. “It brings lots of attention to the condition of the river and creates an opportunity to rally public support.”
The first Patuxent River report card, released earlier this year, gave a D-minus to the river, which helped to recruit volunteers for a new citizen monitoring program.
