The information/data conservationists and wildlife scientists produce does have the potential to change the face of conservation and so does effective communication. Having incredible data but no proper way of communication could damage the conservation action plans and indeed perishing wildlife and natural habitats. Communicating conservation research followed by action plans is important to achieve the conservation goals in this multifaceted world. Effective science communication with the focus message and target audience leads to successful conservation.
Communicating conservation research in the following domains is a must for effective and successful conservation:
- Communication among wildlife scientists/conservationists, managers and the policy makers, and
- Communicating conservation to common people
Communication among wildlife scientists/conservationists, managers and the policy makers
Stakeholders mean different people or agencies who are involved in or get affected by the process of conservation planning and decision making, they may or may not be included in the whole process of conservation. Communication among different stakeholders – wildlife scientists/conservationists, managers and the policy makers etc., should be a two-way process – information input and feedback. The information produced by research, for example – species biology (behaviour, activity pattern, physiology, genetics etc.), habitat characteristics and species interaction in forest etc. could be very useful for wildlife managers in the zoos and protected areas to save wildlife, and for the policy makers to make the laws for wildlife protection. The process of conservation is complex and involved multiple stakeholders with varied opinions and values. Maintaining a communication channel among the stakeholders is an intricate job.
For the conservation to become a success, a continuous communication channel among different stakeholders is a must throughout the process of conservation right from research to planning till the implementation and should end with feedback. We would get fruitful conservation only if we develop a feedback communication process among stakeholders. The feedback mechanism could be at any stage and by any stakeholder, this will facilitate the planning and decision making in a harmonious way and without any conflict. Finally, success stories should be told and failures should be noted for future reference. It’s not only the success that should be shared and cheered but the failure too. Communicating failure would make us learn what not to do.
Project Tiger’s Success is based on Effective Communication
The Project Tiger in India is a very good example of effective communication among stakeholders. The tiger population has declined drastically in the last century. Government of India in 1972 started Project Tiger to save the majestic cat species by creating Tiger Reserves across the country, protecting it with strict laws, deploying Tiger Task Force to curb poaching in the protected areas. Since then the population has increased massively. The credits go to stakeholders such as Government officials, scientists and researchers, non-government organizations (NGO’s), tourism sectors and the local people of the respective areas. This has not only protected a single species but the whole habitat of it and provided livelihood to local people as well.
Communicating conservation to common people
Productive communication with people is essential for successful conservation because biodiversity loss is mostly caused by humans. Communicating science to the scientific community is one thing but communicating science to common and local people having limited education and resources is another thing. The catch is simple; if common people understand and support the conservation the conservation goals become attainable. For example, Wildlife SoS has managed to curb the unfortunate practice of Dancing Bears through effective communication. Another example of effective communication fostering conservation is the reduction in bird hunting in North East India.
Lack of Awareness often Causes Extinctions
The story of the Greater adjutant stork, one woman and local people’s trust in her plan would let you know why communicating and educating local people about conservation is important. Greater adjutant stork is an endangered bird, once having distributed over wetlands of Southeast Asia now most of the population resides in the state of Assam in India. Earlier the species was considered as a bad omen and a disease carrying creature by the local people hence received no good treatment. The local people, being unaware of the importance of the bird in the ecosystem, used to destroy the nesting trees of the bird and poison their source of food hence pushing them on extinction unknowingly. The misconception about the bird among local people as a disease carrying agent and bad omen was the reason behind the act.
Effective Communication saved the Greater Adjutant Stork
Dr Purnima, as a PhD student, identified this and tried to change the perception of local people about the bird. She made them learn about the Greater adjutant stork and it’s important in the ecosystem as a scavenger – they feed on the leftover food. She started a public relation plan to change the mindset of the local people about the bird. Her idea was to educate the local people about the bird and its role in the ecosystem and encourage people to take ownership of the species, for this she particularly targeted women and started the one-woman campaign. This community-led conservation initiative impacted the population of the bird positively, for example, in one colony (Dadra and Pacharia village) in Assam there were 28 nests of the Greater adjutant stork, with the community conservation efforts by 2019 there were about 200 nests in the same colony. This is a great example of community conservation that proves how it is essential to educate common local people about the nature around them.
Role of Documentaries in Effective Communication
A Documentary is a product of a creative and artistic mind showcasing a piece of work in motion. Hearing and seeing the story of people, animals and conservation make the public feel connected and more involved. Documentaries can create bridges of empathy and compassion for the world desperately in need. Visuals have the power to educate. Documentaries can reach a wider audience and have the potential for a positive impact. It’s been used in conservation advocacy frequently nowadays even reproducing the content in multiple languages.
When outdoor experience gets restricted, for example in the current pandemic, documentaries would serve as a great platform to engage people in conservation education. For example, David Attenborough managed to captivate entire generations with his stunning wildlife documentaries. Similarly, a documentary known as “Gods as Shackles” has educated the oblivious public about the cruel truth of captive elephants.
Barrier and Solutions to Effective Communication in Conservation
I believe science must be communicated in the simplest possible way. We as scientists and researchers published a hip of information in standard journals based on observation and experimentation. However, most of the information is either inaccessible or so complex that many of us fail to understand let alone the common people with limited education and resources. Language, lack of accessibility and lacking simple communication are the barriers in conservation communication. I understand many times that conservation science become complex to deal with but we need to learn to represent such complex science in the simplest way to common people. I believe the possible solution to these barriers would be “when you are doing conservation think like a scientist but when you teach or communicate conservation think like a child”. One potential idea could be to create a platform where we all could able to access information on cutting-edge conservation research most easily and simply.
Conservation Science often Lacks Effective Communication
Nature is simple yet complex to understand. Many times the science behind the conservation is restricted to the scientific community only leaving behind the large crowd clueless. The science we publish is complex and often inaccessible to common people. There are millions of people in India and across the globe that can only speak and read the regional languages, and, a certain literate group that can process simple English. Most of the journal have high accession fee that limits the students from accessing the information required. I started the project TraCon to reduce the barrier between common people and the conservation information scientist published. I believe that if every citizen in a country understands and supports conservation, as a result, conservation causes and initiatives become more attainable.
Project TraCon
TraCon stands for Translating Conservation – connecting people with meaningful information. I always felt being a wildlife biologist and keen to become a conservation educator that what we lack in conservation education is simplicity in communication.
Project TraCon focuses on two objectives i) evaluate the impact of information inaccessibility on conservation in India and ii) educate common Indian citizens about the conservation science via ease of access to information through blogs and E-magazine – writing short, efficient and informative articles and creating an application where every Indian can have access to conservation science in their regional languages. The project will facilitate our understanding of conservation outreach, the impact of inaccessibility in conservation for example language barrier and paid subscriptions to journals. The project will provide solutions to inaccessibility issues by the ease of access to cutting edge research on conservation through blogs, E-magazine and mobile application (articles in different regional languages). These resources will be free to everyone with a download facility.
Written by: Aamer Sohel Khan
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