GAFW Ambassadors
Forest Ambassador Program
Are you passionate about the environment and eager to make a lasting impact? Apply to the forest Ambassador Program and help us preserve and protect Georgia’s national forests!
As a Forest Ambassador, you will:
- Advocate for sustainable forest management and conservation
- Raise awareness about the critical role forests play in combating climate change
- Lead local community efforts to preserve natural ecosystems
- Gain valuable knowledge and training on environmental advocacy
- Collaborate with a network of passionate individuals and organizations
Program Overview
The GAFW Forest Ambassador Program will be developed and implemented with an overarching goal: to develop and empower new forest advocates. We will accomplish this goal by providing this pilot cohort with opportunities to deepen their knowledge of ecology, environmental preservation, and forest management, leading—we firmly believe—to greater participant investment in our national forests, increased engagement, and deeper contributions in the advocacy arena. While the Forest Ambassador Program is not a degree-granting university program, we plan to draw in experts from around the region as instructors, and our program will aim to equip participants to read and understand—and share! — scientifically accurate knowledge about our forests and their importance to other community members.
Ambassadors will also be encouraged to share GAFW’s work on social media and through physical marketing assets.
If our pilot proves successful, we envision the Forest Ambassador Program becoming a transformative component of GAFW’s annual programming efforts. It will engage citizens and create a pipeline for stakeholders to become more meaningfully involved in forest advocacy.
The GAFW Forest Ambassadors program will meet once a month for nine months.
Meeting locations will rotate and will include public facilities and field sites. The Program curriculum will cover the following topics: (tentative, schedule in development)
- History of CONF
- History and mission of GAFW in relation to the CONF
- Invasive Species
- Native Plants
- Birds/Birding
- Tree Identification/Ecology
- Georgia Fisheries
- Geology
- Native Georgia Wildlife
- Reptiles/Amphibians
- Stream Ecology – Biodiversity of the Etowah River
- Citizen Science Projects (Bats, Pine snakes)
- Prescribed Fire (Panel)
- Define Wild(erness)
- Legislative Education
- Letters to the Editor Training
- Diversity Training
- Cherokee Nation Lands & Impacts
- Leave No Trace Principles
We will seek experts from the partnering organizations as guest speakers for the Forest Ambassadors Program, working alongside GAFW staff and expert volunteers. GAFW already enjoys deep relationships and partnerships with these groups, so we anticipate these collaborations will be fruitful and viable long term, strengthening GAFW organizationally while also equipping a new generation of ambassadors for Georgia’s most vital natural resource: (tentative, schedule in development), strengthening GAFW organizationally while also equipping a new generation of ambassadors for GAFW.
