Chances are if you’re a bit of an eco-nut and grew up watching David Attenborough documentaries, the on-going extinction crisis is somewhat getting you down. You want to do something to make a difference, have a real-world impact, help turn the tide on irreversible biodiversity loss. Great—what could be more noble than that?
You certainly picked the right time to be alive. With us now entering the Anthropocene, a geological epoch forged by human dominance of environments, we need you now more than ever. Carrying on as usual is no longer an option. The actions of this generation, our generation, will determine the fate of life on Earth for at least the next hundred million years.
If the Anthropocene had a tagline, it would be something like “Time to pull your socks up, dumbasses”.
But for all your ambition and good intentions, you’ve reached a bit of an impasse. You know you want to make a difference somehow. In fact, you know you want to make as positive and as a big an impact as you can. Problem is, you don’t know where to start.
The first thing to say, straight off the bat, is this:
It’s okay to be confused (I certainly am!)
Conservation isn’t rocket science. It’s harder. Biodiversity loss is side-lined in most politics. Subsidies point the wrong way. Profit is usually put before environmental protection.
Add to that the personal element that there’s no clear path for how to become an effective conservationist and it’s little surprise that some people have called tackling biodiversity declines a “wicked problem”. It’s even less surprising that you, one person, can be left thinking: how on earth can I make a difference?
What actions should I be taking? What career path should I be following? What issues should I be focusing on; there are so many—deforestation, or pollution, poaching or climate change? And most of all: How can I make the most difference?
I know I can’t be alone in thinking such thoughts. So, I’ve decided to do something about it.
I’m going to invest all my time in inventing a solar-powered time machine to individually ferry extinct species of the past back into the present.
I think I’ll start with the golden toad!
No, what I’m actually going to do is this:
- Read, read and read some more about some of the best evidence-backed ways of personally “making a difference”.
- Talk to people much much more knowledgeable than me and get their advice and guidance.
- Pull together helpful resources, case-studies, books, articles and more about how to “make a difference”.
- Explore innovative approaches from the field of conservation and beyond that could have an out-sized impact, and potentially drive a transformation towards the sustainable use of ecosystems.
- Expose commonly suggested methods of “making a difference” which really don’t.
- Try and actually do things that “make a difference”
- Share it all here along the way (I hope you’ll join me and if you’ve got suggestions I’d love to hear from you!
What does it mean to “make a difference”?
Making a difference certainly sounds like a worthwhile thing to do. But to actually set out and achieve it, you need to have at least a loose idea of what doing so would actually look like.
For me—at least for the moment—the answer to this is pretty straightforward. I think preserving and restoring biodiversity are amongst the most pressing and important challenges of our time (see why below). And there are two related facets of biodiversity loss which I (and most scientists) find especially worrying.
The first is the permanent loss of species through extinction. Current extinction rates are estimated to be occurring 100-to-1000 times faster than they should be. You can pretty much take your pick of the dismal statistics. 41% of known amphibian species are threatened with extinction. 31% of sharks and rays. Even 34% of the sodding conifers!
The second worry is the even faster extirpation of local populations.
So, as I currently see it, “making a difference” would include:
Reducing biodiversity loss by lowering the risk of species extinctions and limiting or reversing population declines.
How to best go about personally doing that is a big fat juicy question that will be the focus of many many coming blogs. But I suppose I should start by saying something positive of which I am absolutely convinced.
One person really can make a difference in reducing and staunching extinctions and population declines.
Two reasons why preventing extinctions and population declines “makes a difference”?
- Biodiversity is an integral part of human thriving and well-being. It helps regulate diseases and our climate, it pollinates our crops, it helps shield us from cyclones, it is a free source of new medicines and clean water.
- We have a moral responsibility not to rob future generations of experiencing nature first-hand.
The first reason is pragmatic. We need biodiversity–both species and populations–because they provide the life-support systems upon which we depend. Losing biodiversity is harmful to present and future generations. You can read more about why this is the case in The Guardian article below.
What is biodiversity and why does it matter to us?
The second reason is what my seventeen-year-old self would have scoffed at and called wishy-washy. And maybe I have grown soft after a few too many months in the jungle. But I am now convinced that since we are the first generation to be fully aware of the extent of our impact on the environment, we will also be judged very harshly by following generations if our actions ruin their chances of experiencing wildlife and wild places for themselves.
Other global priorities
Of course, biodiversity loss is just one of many global problems. According to the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, key global priorities include:
- Minimising the risk of global pandemics
- Minimising the risk posed by artificial intelligence
- Improving the conditions of factory farmed animals
- Improving nuclear security
If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you are particularly interested in conservation and environmental issues, so this is what I will focus on most of all. That said, if you reckon you can have a punt at stopping a flu-triggered societal breakdown or the eventual takeover of our robotic overlords, then hey, please, you go for it!
Okay…so how can I make a difference? (A snapshot)
Here is a short list of some of the areas where you or I will be able to make the most difference. I will be exploring each of these topics in a tonne more detail over the coming year, with plenty of help from much more intelligent people. This is just a taster of things to come.
You can make a difference:
- With your career. Each of us has an average of 80,000 hours to spend in our careers. Invest this time wisely and this is arguable the surest and biggest way of making a difference.
- With your money (e.g. donating to effective causes).
- With your volunteering.
- With your lifestyle choices/purchases.
- With your projects: film-making, blogging and photography can all make a difference if done right.
- With your political engagement.
- With your adventures!
Prioritising the priorities
The main thing to highlight straight from the outset is that a key part of making a difference is prioritising effective high-impact choices and activities. You can probably amplify the difference your donations make by one hundredfold for instance, if you focus on effective charities that deliver the best “bang-for-the-buck”.
In the same way, there is a huge spectrum of volunteering opportunities, from the genuinely significant to the downright shoddy and exploitative.
And with lifestyle choices too, you can focus on “doing your small bit”–say buying bamboo straws and making sure you unplug your phone charger–and make almost no discernible difference whatsoever (sorry!). Or else you can try to focus your efforts on the few evidence-based behavioural or lifestyle changes that will actually do the most good.
What the world needs more than ever now is an army of effective conservationists. So I hope you join me on this journey to find out how we can make a difference.
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