Have you ever wondered, where are the teachers, doctors and fire fighters in conservationWhy is animal conservation important? Animal conservation is important, because animals are the only mechanism to create biodiversity, which is the mechanism that creates a habitable planet for humans. Without animals, the energy from today’s plants (algae, trees, flowers etc) will eventually reach the atmosphere and ocean, much of it as carbon. The quantity of this plant-based waste is so More? Of course you haven’t. Why would we ever expect our frontline responders, healthcare professionals and educators to drop what they’re doing and volunteer? Isn’t it strange then, that conservation depends almost entirely on volunteer labour. Doesn’t this deny these and other important people a voice or chance to play a role?
Most people are already too busy
Even stranger when you realise that the ecosystem integrity of our own living areas is essential for a thriving economy. But that also depends on having an essential workforce that doesn’t have time for volunteering either. Any workforce includes, as standard, about 15–20% of non-working people (carers, students, elderly, children) who despite being unemployed, are just as busy and important to society. Then of the remaining 80%, many of us are time poor already.
You see the dilemma?
Nature-centred economies
World economies are currently reforming rapidly. Governments are striving to make them more nature-centred. I have written about these monumental positive changes in my latest book How to Survive the Next 100 Years: Lessons from Nature. One of the core concepts is the need for conservation to be simultaneously social and ecological in form and design. Another is to involve the whole of society.
In other words, to recognise that people and animals are all part of nature. Meaning our social needs (employment, food, water etc) are integrated with the way the ecosystem functions. In actual fact, without us, ecosystemsHow ecosystems function An ecosystem is a community of lifeforms that interact in such an optimal way that how ecosystems function best, is when all components (including humans and other animals) can persist and live alongside each other for the longest time possible. Ecosystems are fuelled by the energy created by plants (primary producers) that convert the Sun's heat energy More also degrade. Ecosystems depend on us and we depend on them. People aren’t the main problem, the problem is we’ve made living nature invisible in our economy. That is all changing but there are some hurdles along the way.
Transforming society to be nature-centred
Social scientists talk about ‘transformational change’. This means building a roadmap where society starts to behave in ways that are more compatible with the dual social and ecological demands of our planet. Inherently, therefore, we’re talking about people continuing to serve the roles they do in society but in a way that is conducive to a healthier local environment.
In the project I’m currently running called Restore the Bay, we are developing these community co-designed and co-led outcomes for the coastal environment. We lead with a number of fundamental truths and this is one of them. That no-one should feel pressured to devote more time than they can afford to participating. For the teachers, doctors and fire fighters in conservation, this might be as little as checking in now and again.
Which means we’ve had to dispense with the idea that volunteering is the main action for change. It’s simply not. It’s crazy, therefore, that funding to protect our 2,000 square kilometre bay, is dependent on the community finding ‘in kind’ (voluntary) contributions equal to any tax-payer funded contribution. This denies us teachers, doctors and fire fighters in conservation.
Mismatching needs and behaviour
About 99% of the whole of society get little chance to meaningfully participate. Hence, the money gets spent on beach cleanups and weeding, mostly involving early retirees who are still fit enough to do this back-breaking work unpaid. That isn’t to denigrate their work. It’s just that volunteering is an option for only a tiny proportion of society. What we really need is for nature-appropriate behaviour to become ingrained in our behaviour across the whole of society.
So there is still a mismatch between what we want and how we behave. Governments want nature centred economies. Policymakers want community led design and engagement. Neither will be possible until we offer a more inclusive way to involve everyone. Contrary to popular opinion, there is more than enough money. It’s just being allocated unwisely. To kickstart the changes needed to revive economies is going to require a shift in the way society (and government) values all people as part of nature.
In the coming months I will be able to tell you more about what we are achieving with Restore the Bay which is putting these needs into action, giving everyone the chance to help co-design and lead on protecting their own living environment and economy. It’s a truly ground-breaking project and I’m thrilled to be working with the team that’s making it possible.
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I want to add a big thank you to all my readers. It may sound as though I spend my time travelling and writing but this is only a small part of my work. It’s important though. Your ongoing support enables me to develop these projects and create outcomes that would not be possible otherwise.
