Virginia Master Naturalist Program 2021 Year in Review

Each year, VMN chapter leaders work hard on annual reports that compile their membership and volunteering statistics and describe some of their most impactful projects from the year.  It’s exciting for us to hear about their accomplishments, and it is clear that Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers are continuing to make important impacts in their communities and to benefit Virginia’s waters, woods, and wildlife.

Below, we present some of the 2021 data through a table of quantitative outputs and an impact statement that was submitted to Virginia Cooperative Extension and other sponsors.  To learn about more stories of volunteers and their projects, check out our 2021 VMN Program Awards announcement.

2021 Virginia Master Naturalist Impact Statement: ​Virginia Master Naturalists contribute to natural resource education, citizen science, and stewardship across the Commonwealth in 2021

​Relevance

Americans’ interest in nature is growing. There is a large constituency of people, both urban and rural, engaged in non-consumptive uses of natural resources such as birdwatching, and studies show this population is growing.  Due to the pandemic, parks and natural areas in Virginia experienced record visitation in the last two years, and people also sought new ways to connect with nature at home.  Research also shows, however, that Americans still face a significant gap between their interest in nature and their ability and opportunities to pursue that interest.  Individuals need opportunities to be actively involved in exploring, caring for, and observing nature in their local communities.  Furthermore, because the most impactful experiences in nature are deeply social, opportunities to connect people with nature through social groups are needed.  

At the same time, Virginia is facing difficult natural resource challenges, such as loss of forestland, sea level rise, and invasive species impacts. State and local natural resource agencies need help to accomplish their missions, address these natural resource challenges, and reach more sectors of our population. Public engagement is critical to successful conservation and management of Virginia’s woods, wildlife, and waters.

Response

The Virginia Master Naturalist (VMN) program addresses these needs by supporting a statewide corps of volunteers providing education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities. With 30 chapters across Virginia, the program aims to extend the capacities of both state and local natural resource agencies and organizations to be able achieve their missions in new ways, engage new audiences, and work towards creating a citizenry more informed about and involved in natural resource conservation and management.  The program, because of its chapter-based structure, also promotes learning about, exploring, and stewarding natural areas through social groups.  

Every year, hundreds of Virginians become new VMN volunteers through training and service. The process for becoming a Certified VMN typically takes 6 to 12 months. One starts by completing a 40-hour basic training course offered by one the local chapters of the program. An additional 8 hours of continuing education and 40 hours of volunteer service are also required to become certified or recertified, though this requirement was halved in 2021 in recognition of the limitations on service due to the pandemic.  Volunteer service hours are recorded in four primary areas: education, stewardship, citizen science, and chapter administration. At the statewide level, the program is sponsored by seven state agencies, and on the local level, chapters partner with dozens of conservation and education organizations.

Results

The VMN program currently has approximately 2,100 volunteers who reported service in 2021. These volunteers completed more than 25,000 hours of training and continuing education in 2021. They also contributed significant volunteer time in the areas of education, citizen science, stewardship, and chapter administration, amounting to more than $5.2 million in contributions to natural resource conservation in Virginia (based on IndependentSector.org value of a volunteer hour.) Since the program’s inception in 2005, VMN volunteers have contributed more than 1.6 million hours of service with a value of $43 million to the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

In addition, volunteers made more than 162,000 direct contacts through educational programs in their communities that totaled 26,800 hours of service, valued at $0.8 million.  While some opportunities for education and outreach were still curtailed in 2021, volunteers found creative outlets to share research-based natural resource information.  They contributed videos about the James River to an Extension “Watershed Wonder Wednesday” YouTube series for youth, led community nature walks, developed brochures and signs for self-guided nature programs, and visited homeowners to provide advice about improving wildlife habitats and riparian buffers on their properties. ​

On top of their contributions to these many conservation projects, VMN volunteers also contributed more than 32,800 hours of time, valued at $1 million, managing our local chapters.  The unique structure of the VMN program relies on volunteers to lead the day-to-day local operations of the program, including recruiting new volunteers, organizing training courses, developing local projects and partnerships, and tracking volunteer activities.  Several hundred VMN volunteers provide this local leadership, without which the program would not exist.  In 2021, these leaders were critical in the program’s transition to a new volunteer management system.  They learned to use a complex application, set up their chapters’ portions of the system, and trained and encouraged volunteers to use it.  They also organized 25 basic training courses, graduating more than 300 new VMN volunteers.
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