Langley Environmental Partners Society
Salmon Points Rewards Program (Salmon Chums)
Project Backgrounder, April 2009
The general concept for the Salmon Points Reward Program is to deliver a program whereby citizens register to become salmon-friendly community champions (salmon chums) and earn points for actions i.e. attending stewardship events, adopting new lifestyle practices (dedication to greener cleaners, low flow fixtures, removing invasive plants in yard, etc). and following salmon-friendly actions. These points can be redeemed to obtain services and incentives that facilitate behaviour change and citizen engagement in stewardship actions. Each behaviour earns points for participants. The points will accumulate by scale (level). Once a certain number of points have accumulated, the chums reach certain scales and can choose to redeem or continue accumulating salmon points.
LEPS will offer salmon chums participants the ability to enhance salmon and watersheds, through knowledge and action, with an emphasis on removing the barriers to behaviour change. This program will engage participants in a greater context, building a sense of community around salmon conservation. Members will be proud of their salmon friendly practices, further engaging their friends, contacts and wider community members.
The basis of the project requires individuals to register and indicate the actions they are taking or will adopt. Individuals will earn points redeemable for workshops, services, incentives, prompts, public recognition and other tools that develop social norms and public commitments. Actions will be weighted in accordance to perceived benefit to salmon and watersheds.
The program will make use of commitments, social diffusion, prompts and incentives to encourage citizen involvement in salmon stewardship activities, in the community and at home.
At this pilot stage registration in the program will be person-to-person or via email, with members tracked in a database. Once the community grows, LEPS will seek to create a web portal where an on-line community would grow, allowing members to report their salmon friendly actions. This on-line community would be linked from www.leps.bc.ca and would ideally be managed through www.thinksalmon.com.
Objective 1 To develop a social network for salmon conservation that allows members to be publicly proud of their conservation actions.
Objective 2 To engage community in the wider context of community based social marketing, using CBSM as a tool to further encourage behaviour change, leading to greater understanding of salmon and watersheds.
Objective 3 To engage a greater segment of community in salmon conservation, including those not already involved. Involve this segment for reasons other than salmon- focusing on the ‘social norm’ aspect
Over the next year, LEPS is piloting this project in Langley/ Fraser Valley area with potential to expand across the Lower Mainland and Fraser Basin. LEPS is encouraging the involvement of other BC-based NGO’s in this innovative project. LEPS intends to package this project in a manner that is transferable to others within the Fraser Basin, to increase the capacity for more residents of BC to become “salmon citizens”, engaged in behaviours to the long term benefit of salmon and watersheds.
For more information please contact Nichole Marples at 604.532.3511 email:
www.leps.bc.ca/salmonchums
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