The First Special Life Alpine Young Ranger Wolf Program: in the Field Implementation over the Boundaries to Involve New Generations in Wolf Conservation

A generation of informed young people committed to environmental protection is a powerful and effective durable investment in long-term support for wolf conservation. This action invites the youngest visitors to the protected areas to participate in a special international LIFE Alpine Young Ranger Program dedicated to the wolf, which offers children and families the opportunity to get to know the wolf and the Alpine environment in which it is embedded. Young visitors to the protected areas who complete the planned activities receive a badge and a stamp in their passport. After the first common programme about wolf, each protected area will be encouraged to develop its own programme along the same lines at a later date. A different badge and a different stamp on the LIFE Alpine Young Ranger passport will be given for each subsequent completed programme, in order to encourage children and families to travel and discover all the Alpine protected areas. 

There are five main steps in this action:

• networking of participants
• conception and development of the first LIFE Alpine Young Ranger programme common to all and dedicated to the wolf (workshop)
• development of a coordinated image, kits and gadgets LAYR
• training of operators, guides and volunteers of protected areas who will carry out the action on their respective territories (workshops).
• launch and implementation of the LIFE Alpine Young Ranger programme with young visitors, with dedicated days.

By the end of the project we will create an international network of young rangers to support the conservation of wolf and biodiversity throughout the Alps and inspire the next generation of administrators of protected areas.