Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the committee for inviting us to speak here today.
My name is Peter Kendall. I'm the executive director of Earth Rangers.
Earth Rangers is the largest conservation group by membership in the country. We have over 140,000 members. We're also a global leader in environmental engagement. We operate programs that educate youth and their families about biodiversity, inspire them to adopt more sustainable behaviours, and empower them to become directly involved in protecting animals and their habitats.
We reach children through dynamic in-school presentations and an almost daily television presence. These programs inspire kids to become members of Earth Rangers. As members, Earth Rangers raise funds to help protect endangered species like Pembina's work in caribou in northern Alberta and research by the Arctic Fishery Alliance on cold water coral in Baffin Bay. In fact, our members this year are on track to raise over $600,000. What's amazing is this is all through bake sales, art sales, and lemonade stands, so that's a lot of lemonade.
Members also participate in Earth Ranger missions, like creating pollinator habitat, organizing local cleanups, and conducting home energy audits. In addition, members have access to a wealth of educational information on our site, much of which we developed in collaboration with Parks Canada and the Canada Wildlife Service.
Finally, as this government has recognized, reaching and inspiring new Canadians to engage in and explore our natural heritage is vital. At Earth Rangers we believe the best way to do this is through children. No matter where they come from, all children have an inherent love of animals and a desire to protect them. Earth Rangers leverages this connection to engage children and in turn their families. As a result, our membership base is not only the largest of any conservation group in the country, but also the most diverse.
Most importantly, recent research is clearly demonstrating the impact of our programs. In 2015, Ipsos Reid's survey found that youth who participate in Earth Rangers are more knowledgeable about the environment, more likely to adopt sustainable behaviours, and more optimistic that they can have a positive impact in the world. They're also more likely to volunteer and participate in other philanthropic activities.
Since 2014, we have worked with Environment and Climate Change and the Government of Canada as a whole to expand our programs across the country. We feel we've shown a significant return on investment. With your support over the past two and a half years, we have seen our membership grow from 35,000 families to over 140,000, now representing every province and territory. We've expanded our school presentations from 450 to 800 schools, allowing us to reach 250,000 students annually. I believe we've done presentations in every riding represented here today.
We've created new French language programs in Quebec, and we've piloted a successful on-the-ground program in all three territories. Your support has also allowed us to develop exciting new missions, like our recent ATK in Action mission, which focused on increasing awareness and appreciation for aboriginal traditional knowledge, and OutdoorExplorer, which celebrated and encouraged visitors to the national parks.
This is a very exciting time across Canada and internationally. With our renewed focus on combatting climate change and protecting our lands and oceans, Canada is re-establishing its environmental leadership role in the world. We know that Earth Rangers can play an important part in helping you meet your goals by educating and engaging our community in these critical issues.
We're asking the Government of Canada to continue its current investment in Earth Rangers by renewing our support of $1 million a year for the next five years. With your continued support, we plan to leverage your past investments by focusing on the following initiatives.
The first is continuing our expansion in Quebec and expanding into French-language minority communities across Canada. We'll build on our pilot program in the territories to provide meaningful programming in indigenous communities across the country. We'll also support the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by continuing to educate our members about the critical role that indigenous people have played, and continue to play, in conservation. Finally, we will support Canada's domestic and international environmental commitments by continuing to grow our membership and inspiring our members to play an active role in mitigating climate change and building awareness and support for marine and terrestrial protected areas.
By continuing to work together, we can ensure that current and future generations of Canadians have the knowledge and tools they need to play an active role in ensuring that we meet our ambitious environmental goals.
Thank you.