The Point Amour Youth Program

The four-week Newfoundland and Labrador conservation leadership season on the Northern Peninsula ended on a highpoint for team leaders Sophie Anderson and Elli Gurguliatos. In its 11th summer, the Point Amour youth program is a partnership between QLF and Intervale and brings together 45 youth from the Labrador Straits for a week to educate and train them to be future leaders in environmental conservation.

Stationed at the striking Point Amour lighthouse, youth participate in workshops and then put what they learn to work. The campers range in age from 5 to 15 years old. They all learn to identify and then monitor seabirds and shorebirds with older campers helping younger ones. Right from camp one day they saw spouting humpback whales through their binoculars. 

Topics covered in depth are marine species at risk and how debris in the ocean affects them. Many students come from communities where hunting and fishing are important, so discussions about best practices are something they can talk about at home. For the leadership portion they practice public speaking by teaching the subjects they just learned. 

Jackson is an 11-year-old avid birder. Already knowledgeable and a keen learner, he helped bird instructor Sophie give a presentation on the endangered red knot. Under the guidance of Graham Sorenson, a visiting scientist from Birds Canada, he learned to log his bird sightings into eBird — and became a citizen scientist. 

In the Point Amour team photo are 17-year-olds Jack and Marcus. They are record holders. This year marked their 10th year with the program, and they returned as inspiring junior instructors. 

This program is supported by a grant from the International Grenfell Association with contributions from QLF, Intervale, Birds Canada, Wildlife Habitat Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Town of Forteau, Forteau Lion’s Club, Point Amour Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site, and the Community Youth Network of Southern Labrador and Strait of Belle Isle.