For the past nine years, Avisure has been contracted to Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Canada’s second busiest airport, to safely deliver the airport’s wildlife management program. YVR’s location on Sea Island in the Fraser River Delta make it essential for the airport to lead a comprehensive 24/7 wildlife program as the surrounding marshes, mudflats and agricultural habitats on and around the delta attract millions of shorebirds, waterfowl, and gulls each year.
YVR has in place one of the most comprehensive wildlife management programs in the world. Avisure is proud to have established a world-leading airspace approach to wildlife management that balances wildlife conservation and aviation safety.
The statistics over our nine years tell the story:
Total number of wildlife managed
Total wildlife
management hours
Key wildlife management performance indicators met
In the past year, we are especially proud of our amazing staff who worked on the program to make it the best in the world. Last year, staff support was demonstrated by the best staff survey results in the program’s history, with zero turnover of personnel, corresponding to the lowest number of adverse effect strikes on-airport in the nine years, and the absence of Snow Geese in key areas of the foreshore.
Snow Geese were the focus of an innovative first. Avisure, in collaboration with YVR staff and stakeholders, applied avian radar procedures to effectively manage Snow Geese, a first for a civilian airport. In what is known as the Western Central Flyway, hundreds of thousands of Snow Geese migrate predominantly to British Columbia and Washington, resulting in multitudes of large, flocking birds moving through critical airspace. Adding to the management considerations, many of these birds are naïve juveniles, unfamiliar with airport environments. Despite the potential for geese to transit the airfield, there were zero adverse effect goose strikes on-airport.
We would like to thank YVR staff and stakeholders for an excellent time working on the program and wish them all the very best in their ongoing efforts to manage wildlife safely in such a complex operating environment.
With endings come new beginnings, so we are happy to announce the opening of our new business in the United States, Avisure International to continue our work in North America and around the world. In coordination with our offices in Australia, Avisure International will continue to drive best-practice approaches to aviation wildlife management.
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