I love to see what young people are doing, because


if we collectively use our voice to amplify the facts about climate change, we can work to find solutions.


~Elan Strait


change, say experts, including Nikhil Advani, director of Climate Communities and Wildlife at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Protecting large predators is one key to enriching biodiversity, Advani says. “T e top of the food chain has a signifi cant impact on prey species and the ecosystem.” But predators are suff ering because of


humans that are feeling the impacts of cli- mate change, Advani says. Long droughts have forced many Kenyan pastoralists to enter protected parks and compete with wildlife for water and grazing land, resulting in lion deaths as retaliation for killing livestock. In the Himalayas, as the Earth warms, snow leopard habitat is being encroached for pastureland. In Zimbabwe, farmers have turned to chopping down trees for wood as an alternative economic opportunity. “Everybody is stressed and competing for resources,” Advani says. “It is a very severe result of climate change.” Advani and researchers are work-


ing in tandem with local societies in 30 countries across Africa, Central America and Asia to fund novel projects under the Wildlife Adaptation Innovation Fund. For instance, they are piloting a rainwater har- vesting project to help farmers get through the dry seasons and are constructing con- crete and mudbrick nests to help albatross breed better in Tasmania. T ese special projects are based on available levels of do- nations that are sometimes crowd-sourced. Raising funds for innovative projects,


as well as increasing awareness of what’s happening, is an important grassroots strategy, says Elan Strait, WWF director of U.S. climate campaigns. It can be as simple as sharing updates, tagging social media infl uencers and instigating a rally- ing cry. WWF has its own program called Panda Ambassadors in which conserva- tion activists of all ages can get tips and tools to promote specifi c projects they feel most passionate about. “I love to see what young people are


doing, because if we collectively use our voice to amplify the facts about climate


change, we can work to fi nd solutions,” Strait says. “And we need facts to get out there because, at least in the U.S., some people think climate change is still a contro- versy and are afraid to talk about it, but we should have that conversation with friends and family so we can fi nd solutions.”


Youth Rising to


the Challenge Getting involved in grassroots-level strate- gies is empowering not only for kids, but for adults that need their resiliency and inspiration, says Janet Stringer, manager of donor relations at Polar Bears Inter- national, in Bozeman, Montana. “In my work, I hear from so many people who are feeling deep despair about the climate crisis. I draw hope from the children who write to us, sharing stories and pictures about their dreams for a future that in- cludes polar bears,” says Stringer. “I think we owe it to the next generation to work as hard as we can to come together and make the necessary changes to ensure that polar bears—and all wildlife—are not a species we learn about in the pages of a book, but a wild species that we can see with our own eyes, reminding us of how special our planet is and why it deserves our respect.” One of her favorite examples comes


from students at the Daina-Isard school, in Olesa de Montserrat, Spain, and their climate-driven projects with teacher Connie Darilek, who asked the Aquarium of Barcelona to help them grow plankton, an organism threatened by warming seas. “T ey gave us plankton and jellyfi sh,


and it was really amazing for the students to learn the [Arctic] food chain and how serious it would be losing the polar bear on top,” Darilek says. Students recently published the book Nanuc, a story about a polar bear that they also illustrated, now in its second printing. Josie Martin, 13, of Solana Beach,


California, has raised $8,700 for conser- vation of rhinos, elephants, pangolins, gorillas and polar bears by giving


Extinction Is Forever Josie Martin


W


ith the help of her mother, Jill, Josie Martin dedi- cated her 9th birthday


to the conservation of rhinos with a fundraiser. This marks the fifth time Josie has chosen to actively support an animal she loves to paint for her birthday month. She raises money for the animal and creates awareness about climate change and the resulting possi- bility of their extinctions. Donors received signed and numbered copies of watercolor paintings in her Extinction Is Forever series. The young artist’s fundraisers


provide well-researched information on animals and the issues they face. With an upbeat message and a pho- to of her joyful smile, Josie requests that donors provide their email address so that she and her mom can keep them updated. She works to improve her skills as an artist and sets a modestly higher goal for the number of donors and amount of funds to raise each year. She believes her events are a small thing that she can do for a big world and wants to help ensure that animals do not go extinct in her lifetime.


View the artist’s latest fundraiser at Donate.GorillaFund.org/ Fundraiser/2458766.


April 2020 17


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