Dear Friend of the Great Bear,
For over thirty years, we've been traveling to the northern community of Churchill, Manitoba, taking people like you on a remarkable adventure to see and learn about polar bears and other arctic wildlife in their natural habitat.
Our Polar Bear Ecology Field Courses offer a unique and memorable travel experience for people who love bears, while also supporting the small, remote community of Churchill through ecotourism revenue that they count on for the community's survival in a challenging and extreme environment. Low-impact polar bear tourism builds support for polar bear conservation in Churchill and among our travelers.
In addition to our contribution to the Churchill economy, these trips are also the Great Bear Foundation's largest stream of revenue to fund our conservation programs, followed next by valued contributions from our members. Grants and merchandise sales round out our funding.
Recently, Churchill has faced an extreme blow to their economy and daily lives when unprecedented flooding wiped out the railroad tracks--the only overland way to travel and get supplies to the community that is not accessible by road. Repairs are not expected any time soon. In the meantime, travel and transporting goods to Churchill must be by plane. This event, in addition to being a sign of climate change, has served a devastating blow to Churchill's ecotourism economy, on which the community depends.
The Great Bear Foundation remains committed to supporting the community of Churchill with our 2017 field courses. Over the years, we have seen Churchill's resilience and resourcefulness, and experienced their warm-hearted hospitality, and we look forward to bringing a new group of bear-lovers there to witness the polar bears during their fall migration to Cape Churchill this year. I hope you will join us.
By joining us on a Polar Bear Ecology Field Course this year, you will be supporting a northern community facing the impacts of climate change right now, supporting the Great Bear Foundation's bear conservation programs, as well as the research and education programs of our partners at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, our hosts, all while you spend your days watching polar bears and your nights checking the skies for aurora borealis. This is surely the most fun and exciting way that you can support bear conservation and a community facing the threats of climate change.
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Aurora borealis in Churchill by course instructor Frank Tyro
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In light of the rail closure, we have made some logistical changes to this year's field courses.
- Participants will travel to Churchill in comfort on a short flight from Winnipeg (we are happy to advise you on booking flights)
- We have reduced the price of the field course to account for travel
- New course dates:
- Since we are no longer bound to the train schedule, trip dates are more flexible, so inquire if you'd like to participate on a different range of dates between October 30 and Nov 11 (depending on available space).
Our field courses operate on three main philosophies: 1) we strive to help our participants learn how to observe, photograph, and enjoy wildlife with as little impact on the animals and their habitat as possible, 2) we build support for wildlife conservation by sharing these experiences with people, empowering them to become ambassadors for bears and for conservation, and 3) we do our best to make this opportunity possible for people from all walks of life.
If you would like to help us bring a student or disadvantaged person to Churchill, please contribute towards a Polar Bear Ecology Scholarship that will help to make this experience more accessible to someone with limited resources and demonstrated merit. Just send us a note with your contribution to put your funds toward this scholarship.
I have contacted the Town of Churchill to inquire about how else we can help their community as they face this challenge. I will be in touch later this week with more information on what you can do to help.
Thank you for supporting bear conservation!
Sincerely,
Shannon Donahue
Executive Director
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Session I
Sharing Habitat with Polar Bears
October 31-Nov 4
2017
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Session II
Intro to Polar Bear Ecology
Nov 7-11 2017
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Scholarship fund
Help a deserving student participate in our course with your contribution.
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