Hey everyone, as i mentioned
in my last post I said I'd post up the content of an article I wrote for New Nature a little while ago now just outlining some of the ways you can help nature when you're not old enough to vote, so here it is...
Young Forces of Nature - New Nature - Issue 19 - June 2018
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| Nature is incredible and needs our help! |
Do you sometimes sit at school frustrated by others in the
class trying to make fun of your love of nature? Ever heard the argument that
young people are only interested in celebrities, computer games or social
media? Do all the reports of wildlife declines and habitat disappearing concern
you?
So what do you do when you have to be in school, you’re not
old enough to vote or to work, but you’re passionate about our natural world?
How can we change perceptions of young people? How can young people help
wildlife?
Sometimes it takes a little help but I’ve found there are
lots of ways that people my age can get involved and make a difference. All of
the things I’ll talk about here I’ve done since I was about ten, and I only
turned fourteen (fifteen now!) this spring. I think anyone with a passion for nature could do
similar things, and for the sake of our natural world I’d say that they should.
So what sort of things am I on about?
Technology.
Well let’s start with technology. Yes, it’s true. Young
people like computers and computer games. Me too. It’s very hard to escape them
unless you’re a hermit. Whilst I like the weeks when I go on holiday and get
away from technology for a while, we have to use it. It is such a powerful
tool. I wouldn’t be communicating with you right now without it. For me tools
such as blogging and twitter opened up contact with a big range of nature loving
people and organisations, just simply through sharing my passion and the things
I would see on my walks. So a really easy thing to do is to use technology to
tell other people all about your passion, share information about the places
and species that you love. The mainstream media is so full of dull, miserable
or worrying news that I found people really liked simple positive stories about
someone young exploring the world. Sharing your stories on social media may
help to inspire your friends too – The Wildlife Trust’s 30 days Wild is a
perfect way to start this type of thing as they suggest lots of easy ways to
get out and connect with nature.
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| Taken on a phone - well, I didn't have much choice! |
To make the most of blogging and twitter you probably want
to do a bit of photography too. You don’t need lots of expensive gear unless
you really get into it. Phones on cameras work well for lots of things. I’ve
had some really nice sunset shots from my phone. Flowers and insects are good
subjects for phone cameras too. You can get clip on lenses too which are quite
cheap and can give great macro shots. Photos really help to get nature in front
of people and encourage them to appreciate and protect it.
Citizen Science
This is a big thing now. It’s important, simple to do and again
most of the time a smart phone is all that you need to use. You can download
apps to take part in projects like the Great British Bee Count and help
scientists understand what is happening to our bee populations. You just use
the app to identify bees and record where you saw them. Froglife have a
Dragonfinder app to record all things reptilian and Butterfly Conservation have
one for their Big Butterfly Count. Apps
like iRecord will let you log anything you find too. Contributing to projects
like these will help us to know what needs most help.
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| Litter picks are one way to volunteer |
Volunteering
If you like this sort of thing there are probably projects
near you that you can volunteer to help with more surveying. I’m involved with
one near me called The Wild Watch which is surveying 50 species across the
Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They’ve laid on training
sessions for volunteers too so that we know what to look out for, where and
when. I’m doing reptile, riverside and invertebrate surveys this year.
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| And lots of reserves welcome your help |
Volunteering is a great way to get involved with lots of
nature based projects and I’ve seen lots of places where young people are
welcomed from Local Nature Reserves through to projects and opportunities run
by the Wildlife Trusts. I’ve seen people my age helping out at RSPB Reserves
telling visitors what’s been seen and about the site. There are all sorts of
ways to help, and you learn a lot in the process. I’ve helped clear grass and
saplings from reserves (and got to
(The film is linked on the side bar of my blog ----> )
feed a massive bonfire at the end of the
year), sown wild plants in meadows, helped with moth trapping events and lots
more. All sorts of opportunities can present themselves. Last year I was asked
to be youth patron for the Wild Watch and through that I got to make a film
encouraging the children of Nidderdale to get involved in an Owl survey.
Getting political.
Here’s a couple of things I was surprised you can do. The government has a website where you can start petitions.
I was able to set one up asking the government to keep or improve the laws we
have now as part of Europe when we exit the EU. I was amazed I could do this.
All I needed was an email address and not to be campaigning about something
that there was already a petition about. I got over 7000 signatures which
wasn’t enough to get a response from the Government, but I was pleased with it
for a first attempt and I got lots of people thinking about the same issue.
It is also quite easy to write to your MP. I’ve written to
mine now a few times, enough that he knows me now and I got a letter from him
congratulating me on an award I had won which he read about in the local paper.
I’ve asked him about issues like subsidies for Grouse Moors and recently as
there is a big housing development quite near me I asked him about building in
wildlife friendly features into new houses and including wildlife corridors in
the developments. It wasn’t something he could answer but he sent my letter to
the right Minister and I got a response from them. It only pointed me at a load
of legislation that I need to read and try to understand, which I will try to
do and write back, but at least they know that people care about these issues.
The more of us that do this the more likely we are to get improvements for
nature.
Speaking up for young
people and starting your own projects
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| At the YNU 2017 conference |
It’s great to see a lot of projects for young people but
there are a lot of societies that are more focused on adults. Some want to
change and know that it is important that they make themselves appealing to
young people. I was invited to the Yorkshire Naturalists Union Annual
Conference in 2017 to have a stand and talk about my blog and photography. I
met loads of great people who were really interested in what I was doing. I
also got to take part in several discussions about getting more young people
more involved. One comment I made that seems to have stuck when they were
asking what we thought young people want from a society like this was – “Have
you tried asking young people”. I wrote up an article for their magazine about
the conference and got some nice emails back from some of the senior ‘Grey
beards’. I was the only person there my age, but I think it made a difference.
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| At Haggewoods Eco-explorers project |
Start your own
projects
Something that did happen as a ripple out of the article
about the YNU conference was I was asked to come and discuss my ideas about
engaging young people in nature through technology and film making. The Hagges
Woods Trust is a great project near me which has turned an old barley field
into a very young wood meadow. It may be young but in a few years the
difference in bio-diversity is amazing. Talking to them they knew a film maker
and have the space to run a project so we talked it over and they then made an
application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. They got the money! Sometime this
June and July different groups of young people (primary, secondary, scouts and
guides) will be coming to the meadow and will be learning about wildlife and
making films about it. As I said at the start sometimes you need a little help
from people but you can still be quite young yet make a big difference.
Fundraising
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Catching up with Lindsay at Potteric Carr after the
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust AGM with my 2018 calendar |
I wanted to leave this till last as lots of people do
fundraising for lots of causes so it’s not always easy to do. People can get a
bit tired of other people asking them for money. So I’ve tried a couple of
different things. For the last two years I’ve sold calendars and I’ve split the
proceeds with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. I like doing this for a few
reasons. I get to promote my photography, I get to repay some of the kindness
and support the YWT has offered me, people get something nice for their money
and I use the money I make to invest in more photography equipment. I’ve seen
others make and sell bird boxes and other things to raise money.
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| My 2018 Calendar. |
There is always the direct approach too. I’ve done a
sponsored walk before for a local animal rescue centre but that was quite a
while ago. This year not only is The Wild Watch having a year of the Owl but so
is the BTO. Well as the BTO is another charity that has been very supportive
and helpful to me, and since Owls are a family favourite, I thought I’d have another
go. This summer I’m walking the 52 mile Nidderdale way. I’ve set an ambitious
target of raising £2,000. I’ve not pushed this hard yet but at the time of
writing I’m up to £300.
I don’t think I’ve ever written an article this long, but
I’ve sat watching and listening to a lot of people this year that don’t care
much about nature, our planet and its future. I was glad when New Nature liked
the idea of the article so that I could try and inspire other young naturalists
out there to do more, to let them know that there are lots of things they can
do to help. I think it is so important and think what a force for nature we’d
all be if everyone who read this did just one or two of the things I’ve written
about.
We’re young, but we do have a voice and we can make a
difference.
Thanks,
Zach
In my talk as well I mentioned something I have coming up that I'm looking forward to, and that is the chance to run some smart phone photography workshops in Nidderdale. This is courtesy of Kew's Grow Wild project and supported by another project I'm involved with as a youth patron - The Wild Watch. The idea is to get more people appreciating the importance of our wild flowers and it's a great chance to get more young people appreciating our wildlife and the landscapes they live in.
Any how, I had a little try out of the clip-on macro lenses that will be part of the workshops around my garden - I don't think the results are too bad!
