A blueprint to create 250 million wildlife activists
picture this
you’re surrounded by nature with birds
chirping
and fresh breeze blowing across your
face isn’t it ecstatic
well that’s exactly how my childhood was
growing up in the western guards
hello everyone i’m a 15 year old
wildlife activist
and the founder of project civic a
project that aims to raise awareness
about wildlife conservation
the very project that landed me at the
united nations headquarters
and the same one that has gotten me onto
this tedx stage
today i’m not here to talk to you about
how difficult or challenging it was to
establish project civil
or how everyone should try and be more
like me but i’m here to share an idea
that i believe can create 250 million
wildlife activists
in the next few years i’m sure most of
you are thinking
what is she saying that’s crazy talk
well i’m here to tell you
that this very idea is what i’m working
towards to implement
to start off let’s go back two years
from now when i got the opportunity to
create a project called civit
which aims to raise awareness about
coexistence and conservation of wildlife
through management of man-animal
conflict we do so by creating youth
leaders who
champion for these causes we’ve held
interactive sessions
workshops seminars at schools located
near the buffer zones of forest
because these students come from
families who are victims of man-animal
conflict
and are located right next to the forest
therefore coming in contact with the
wildlife on a daily basis
we started off with one school believe
it or not
the results were mind-blowing we managed
to create 150 such enthusiastic youth
leaders
who have impacted their entire community
by not just teaching them
on how to conserve the wildlife but why
we should do so after this i got the
opportunity to present my project
at the united nations headquarters at
the annual 101b youth summit
which was being attended by u.n
delegates country ambassadors
and global leaders but as i walked out
of the un
i thought to myself what next
what else could happen then came the big
idea
that if i can do this in one school what
if i can do it in
every school in india because there are
250 million
people in india who are students alone
and that is why i will be launching my
project civil
across 10 000 schools in india which are
mainly situated near the buffer zones of
forest
because awareness at grassroots and for
young minds
is the first step to ignite a revolution
and civit aims to revolutionize
education
with this wild initiative think about it
if coding can be taught in every school
so can wildlife conservation
this is not a request but a necessity
we’re facing an existential crisis here
and why are people taking this topic so
lightly is it because we’re not facing
any immediate consequences by not
getting involved
or is it because we’re thinking how is
this even related to me
well hear me out because for every
species going extinct
due to human activity we’re not just
losing that particular animal
but an entire ecosystem that was
co-dependent on each
other which in turn impacts the
biodiversity
and the planet as a whole and if that
still does not convince you
on why we should conserve our wildlife
it’s this simple
our wildlife is the glue that’s holding
this planet earth together
if we destroy it we’re destroying our
planet
our only home we cannot afford to
continue practicing deforestation
and poaching because it’s nearly
impossible
to recreate the forest be exactly the
way they were
despite practicing reforestation there
are many instances where we have come
together
and showed a united front in conserving
our wildlife
which has had a tremendous impact take
the example
of project tiger i remember first
hearing about it
in fourth grade from a teacher which
intrigued me
and made me research more about it and
finding out that our tiger population
has grown
from nearly 1400 in 2006
to nearly 3 000 by 2019
was exceptional a great part of this
success is due to the conservationists
and activists but mainly because of how
these issues
were being viewed by the general public
everyone was aware about the tiger
endangerment
it was being talked about at conferences
media
and even at schools that got the whole
nation to unite
and conserve our national animal and the
kerala elephant tragedy
where a pregnant elephant died due to
the consumption
of pineapples filled with firecrackers
in it this
triggered outrage nationwide everyone
was furious
we all started to campaign for wildlife
conservation all over the social media
platforms
if this is what we are capable of doing
creating a social media frenzy
and bringing about awareness on tiger
conservation on a global level
why can’t we take just one school and
teach the students
about wildlife conservation if we can
create a buzz about coding in all
schools across india
why can’t we do the same for wildlife
i’ve said it before
and i’ll say it again this is not a
request
but the need of the r we have lost
almost
60 percent of our wildlife population in
the last 50 years
on top of which we’re losing 150 such
pcs
every single day because the greatest
threat to our planet
is the belief that someone else will
save it
that is why we need more on ground
activists
because today everyone is an online
activist
but the activism dies as soon as a new
trending topic comes up
that is why i’m telling you just take a
moment and think
the people who are connected to wildlife
and are next to the forest
are not even on these social media
platforms that we’re campaigning on
so who really is our target audience
when we hold these campaigns online
what meaningful and tangible impacts are
we really creating
that’s why i’m asking everyone listening
to me to find your role in conserving
the wildlife
by not just blindly posting on instagram
or facebook
but coming into the field of action i
invite all educators
student councils principals and
government authorities
and also everyone watching me to adopt
one school and talk to the students
about the wildlife the endangered
species
and how they can help conserve the
wildlife
thereby activating these youth leaders
who will become
the guardians of wildlife and finally
i would like to end with a quote that
says we
need to teach people about wildlife as
they will be touched
they will start to love and care for it
because humans
tend to save things that they love so
let’s conserve
preserve and love our wildlife thank you