Richard KlafkiProgram Director, Canadian Rocky Mountains
Nature Conservancy of Canada | BC Region Richard.Klafki@natureconservancy.ca |
Richard is a registered professional biologist in British Columbia who has worked as a consulting wildlife biologist for over 20 years and more recently for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) for the past 6 years. Growing up in a small mountain town in southeastern British Columbia nestled between the Rocky Mountains and Columbia Mountains, and at the confluence of two rivers, Richard soon became an enthusiast of all things outdoors! He received an undergraduate degree majoring in Wildlife Biology from University of Northern British Columbia, and a graduate degree in Environmental Science from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. As a wildlife biologist working throughout western Canada and the US, Richard gained extensive experience surveying and handling a variety of wildlife for research including northern goshawk, wolverine, fisher, and badger. Richard also contributed to habitat and ecosystem restoration projects and wildlife inventory surveys throughout western Canada. After completing his Master of Science studying the effects of roads on an endangered badger population in southcentral BC, he joined the Nature Conservancy of Canada as the stewardship coordinator and became the program director in 2017. In BC, the Canadian Rockies Program engages in key areas from the Elk and Flathead River Valleys to the Rocky Mountain Trench, westwards to the South Selkirk Mountains. Richard and his team focus on large landscape-level conservation, providing connectivity for everything from grizzly bears to mountain goats aiming to protect wildlife corridors along the mountains and valleys that span the Crown of the Continent.
Not only does the Canadian Rockies Program work at conserving and restoring habitat for nature, but also works with the local people whose livelihood and way of life depend on a healthy environment and are intimately connected to the land. |