The Biosphere Institute is a community resource hub that provides easy access to information about how to coexist with wildlife, reduce your carbon footprint, and understand the ecology of our region.

As the Bow Valley strives to balance the popularity of our landscape with its natural values, it is crucial that community members understand how they can take action in their own lives, and are able to engage in meaningful dialogue at the community level.

online resources

The WildSmart, Shift: Climate Transitions, and Future Leaders programs regularly publish and update diverse online resources, including the basics of coexisting with wildlife (in ten languages), video guides for how to handle wildlife encounters and use bear spray, webinars about sustainable building and increasing your home’s energy efficiency, comprehensive wildlife and climate change lesson plans, and much more.

library

The Biosphere Institute’s library provides land managers, elected representatives, business leaders and the public with the best available resources to understand our history and to inform our decisions about our future.

Over 3,300 hard-copy references are available for viewing and borrowing at the Biosphere Institute office in downtown Canmore, including research studies, technical reports, and other conservation and management planning documents. You can also view key documents online at the Canmore Commons.