PaRx Program: Outreach and engagement with the public and with health-care professionals

The BC Parks Foundation and PaRx program conducted outreach and media events to raise awareness of the program and the link between health and nature. The launch of the collaboration with Parks Canada generated substantial media coverage, including from international outlets, thus raising awareness of the connections between nature and well-being, and the PaRx program. Parks Canada has also developed informational materials to help health-care providers connect patients with Parks Canada administered places, in so doing creating connections with the health-care community, increasing interest in health and wellness activities across Parks Canada destinations, strengthening engagement between health care sector and protected and conserved areas, and raising awareness of protected heritage areas in Canada.

  • Both the BC Parks Foundation and Parks Canada have a track record of educating the public about the health benefits of time spent in nature and the importance of protecting nature to maximise these heath benefits for current and future generations.
  • Health care professional spokespeople as trusted messengers
  • Regular communication between PaRx and endorsing health organizations ensures consistent and widespread promotion of the program to help build public and health-care professional trust in and awareness of the program.
  • Uptake of the program increased with targeted media campaigns and launches across provinces in Canada. Continued targeted marketing, new resources, and improved usability of the platforms is important for maintaining and growing interest in the program.
PaRx Program: Collaboration with Parks Canada

PaRx and Parks Canada worked together to identify shared objectives around increasing access to nature and the connection between health, well-being and spending time in nature. This collaboration was formalized in a three-year partnering agreement, establishing that Adult Discovery Passes (valued at $72.25 a year) would be provided free of charge to PaRx to be prescribed by health-care professionals during the course of regular visits. The Parks Canada Adult Discovery Pass provides admission for one adult to over 80 Parks Canada administered places across Canada that typically charge a daily entrance fee for an entire year, including national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas. When prescribing Adult Discovery Passes to patients, health care providers are asked to prioritize those who live close to national parks, national historic sites, or national marine conservation areas, and who could benefit from it the most, such as those for whom cost of accessing nature may be a barrier.

  • Parks Canada’s willingness to present and protect natural and cultural spaces for overall ecosystem health benefits and benefits to human health.
  • Knowledge and capacity within the BC Parks Foundation to design and run a national health-care-provider-driven program.
  • Parks Canada’s management of a well-established and trusted network of nationally managed cultural and natural spaces across Canada.
  • Initial administrative challenges in issuing Parks Canada passes to prescribers are being overcome and streamlined through new practices and Customer Management Systems (CRM) to improve ease of access for prescribers and patients.
  • Requirement for flexibility in issuing passes based on demand from prescribers. Originally 100 Adult Discovery Passes were offered as part of the program. When interest in the program ballooned after the launch of the collaboration, Parks Canada substantially increased its support in the form of additional Adult Discovery Passes,  to approximately 1500 passes in the first year of the collaboration.  
PaRx Program: connecting nature to physical and mental health

The PaRx program is Canada’s national nature prescription program. Developed by the BC Parks Foundation, PaRx creates a framework to guide health-care practitioners in prescribing nature to improve patient health and wellbeing. The PaRx program features practical, clinician-focused resources like quick tips and patient handouts, in order to make prescribing time in nature easy and effective. PaRx prescriptions for nature recommend spending at least 2 hours a week in nature, at least 20 minutes at a time, in order to achieve the health and wellbeing benefits of connecting with nature.

 

The PaRx program design is based on studies suggesting that written prescriptions are better received than oral advice in motivating patients to make a change. Moreover, surveys indicate that health-care providers are consistently ranked among the most trusted professionals, increasing the likelihood that patients will adhere to recommendations to connect with nature for their health and well-being.

  • Formal connections with and strong support from the health care community to issue prescriptions and track outcomes for the program.
  • Extensive research that supports the connections between time spent in nature and improved health outcomes.
  • Important that the program be health-care-provider driven to ensure its relevance to prescribers and best support patients whose health can most benefit from time spent in nature.
  • The collection of data over time in the implementation of the program is key to determine if it is meeting objectives.
Establishment of a livestock guardian dog breeding centre

The establishment of a breeding centre is a fundamental step in carrying out controlled breeding and imprinting of pups. Imprinting is a biological learning process, which is generated in a short period of time, where pups of most species can identify and learn behaviours of any other species. At the centre we provide the conditions for the pups to be in contact with goats and sheep from birth, and until they are four months old, creating a family bond that will make them protective with the livestock. This stage is critical and essential to achieve LGD that are effective in their function and strategic for carnivore conservation. During the imprinting process we take care of the feeding, health, welfare of the puppies and the livestock, while correcting undesirable behaviour in the puppy-livestock bond. After four months the puppies that are already vaccinated, dewormed and neutered, are handed over to the producers where they will finish their training and gradually start working with the livestock.

To have at least one pair of dogs that belong to breeds created for livestock protection.

Physical space and budget for the period of imprinting the puppies, that includes support for a person responsible for the care, cleaning and feeding of puppies and livestock that is used for training.

Veterinary support for health controls and spaying/neutering. 

To build collaborative partnerships between NGOs/government/businesses to reduce costs and make LGD affordable for producers.

During the imprinting process, puppies should be constantly with livestock and contact with people should be minimal but friendly. The health and neutering of puppies is essential for animal welfare and to avoid the spread of diseases in the wild.

 

Partnerships with local partners

Partnerships with the provincial Taskforce, which oversaw the project's activities in general, and the provincial Agriculture Extension Center and Farmers’ Union helped achieve the expected results despite travel restrictions owing to COVID-19.

 

Partnerships with these local partners also led to the later integration of the project’s interventions into provincial partner’s programmes.

* Engagement with all levels of government in the province, specifically, at the project's sites, was critically important to establish the partnerships

* Endorsement of the project at national level was critical to ensure provincial and local buy-in

* Widespread availability of smartphones and access to network and desktop computers was vital to ensuring progress even during the pandemic's travel restrictions

* Building strong partnerships is a risk-reduction strategy, as shown during the pandemic wherein local partners were able to conduct many activities with guidance remotely by expert staff

 

Wildlife surveillance for One Health intelligence

Financing support for multi-sector surveillance of zoonotic diseases in wildlife and along wildlife trade chains is essential to improve understanding of pathogen diversity, disease dynamics and potential risks posed by wildlife trade, to support evidence-based decision making, monitor emerging pathogens and support targeted future surveillance and mitigation investments

Long-term financial support for sustained wildlife surveillance: in the field, in the laboratory and for associated data analysis to inform decision-makers and support reporting through One Health coordination platforms 

It is a challenge to secure funding for longer than the typical short cycles associated with government priorities to really make a difference in capacity and system building. Wildlife and environment sectors typically receive less funding and attention compared with livestock and human health, despite their clear linkages to both and increasing risks of emerging diseases of wildlife origin. 

 

Building long-term, multi-sectoral, trans-disciplinary partnerships and capacities

Building long-term partnerships and capacity for multi-sector surveillance of zoonotic diseases along wildlife trade chains promotes and supports effective One Health collaboration from the spillover frontlines to national and international policy makers, and improved understanding of pathogen diversity, disease dynamics and potential risks posed by wildlife trade. Platforms for regular multi-sector discussion between animal health, environment, enforcement, and human health sectors, as well as with and amongst international and multi-lateral partners, is essential for open discourse and sharing of information on the risks, challenges and opportunities for pandemic prevention. This is critical to improve cross- sectoral trust, understanding, communication and coordination to increase opportunities for effective legislative change and cultural shifts.

Openness of host governments to coordination between environment, law enforcement, animal health and human health sectors and investment of time and personnel from those sectors in wildlife surveillance for One Health intelligence; patience; funding; One Health coordination platforms

Trans-sectoral coordination and support from the government is essential from the beginning to ensure effective surveillance for diseases of zoonotic origin along wildlife trade chains and to promote understanding and sharing of findings. Openness of national governments to make science-based policy changes to reduce health risks posed by wildlife trade is essential for meaningful, long-term impact. 

Monitoring + Evaluation

Given the lack of experience and the high need for learning and improving the solution, M+E is key. Starting in the nursery how the different seedlings develop, then after planting and in regular intervals. this allows improving the design, to determine the need for soil improvement, suitability of individual species on respective sites and many other aspects - including upscaling to other areas and countries with similar needs and circumstances.

- Capable institutions and link / partnerships to scientific organizations and individuals

- Local ownership and dedication, also beyond the project's lifetime

- a sound and realistic monitoring system from the outset

M+E needs to focus and should be carried out by knowledgeable and dedicated individuals and organizations. It should also involve the local landowners and their traditional knowledge

Desert Farming: "Breathable Sand" Farm in Ras Al Khaimah

In Abu Dhabi, Breathable Sand technology has helped with the growing of peanuts, mung beans, and black-eyed peas on some farms, while mango and lemon orchids have also shown fruitful results in 18 months.

 

Most vegetables in Abu Dhabi are imported and/or shipped from nearby cities such as Dubai. Famers now can grow local vegetables and fruits to serve the local families.  The quality of the product is also good, and the water usage is only 20% of what typical needs because uncontrolled infiltration is greatly reduced thanks to the Breathable Sand.

 

The current farm includes 500-square-meter arable land to plant vegetables and fruits, and 100,000 square meters of land in Ras Al Khaimah is being prepared for additional applications.

* Local government was supportive to allow the farm built using the new water-saving technologies.  This solution is also in-line with the food security needs in the region.

* Local farmers, after explanation and demonstrations (please see other building blocks), with little guidance, were happy to embrace the technology. 

* After three of years of installation, high-quality produce and healthy plants are the best support to continue using the new technology.

 

International collaboration is crucial in the initial implementation.   The "Breatahbel Sand" technology was invented in China and was used in many applications.  However, it is important to have on-site guidance to ensure the installation is done correctly.  We found there are minor adjustments needed to fit the site-specific needs.

 

In addition, we realized that local manufacturing of the Breathable Sand is very important to reduce the shipping and transportation costs.  UAE has abundant aeolian sand resources, which can be used to produce Breathable Sand locally.  Building a sand-treatment and coating factory in UAE is planed for 2023 to reduce the costs.

Desarrollo de capacidades en bienestar animal, bioseguridad y obtención de fibra de mayor calidad

Se capacitaron a las comunidades manejadoras de vicuñas y guardaparques durante las campañas de captura (aprovechamiento de la fibra) y liberación de vicuñas silvestres. Los temas abordados incluyen: procedimientos adecuados de bienestar animal y bioseguridad para prevenir la transmisión de sarna, entre animales, y por instrumentos y accesorios de trabajo; bioseguridad frente al Covid-19 para prevenir la transmisión entre personas y de personas a animales silvestres capturados. Asimismo, se realizaron capacitaciones en esquila mecánica y predescerdado de la fibra, en ambos casos, para incrementar la calidad de la fibra de vicuñas obtenida durante las capturas y proporcionar un mayor valor agregado a la misma, ampliando los beneficios para la comunidad.

- Se tiene apoyo de las comunidades manejadoras de vicuñas de Apolobamba y del área protegida de Apolobamba.

- Se cuenta con un equipo técnico experimentado de veterinarios e ingenieros zootecnistas y agrónomos para el desarrollo de estudios, capacitaciones y gestiones con los actores locales y nacionales.

El trabajo conjunto y complementario del equipo técnico de WCS y de la ACOFIVB con las comunidades locales y con el área protegida de Apolobamba han generado capacitaciones con una visión de Una sola Salud, capacitaciones que fueron favorables para que las comunidades locales identifiquen que la conservación y manejo de las vicuñas también involucra el cuidado de la salud de especies animales silvestres, domésticas y de las personas, a la vez que obtienen fibra de mejor calidad y reciben mejores ingresos económicos.