Standing Firm in Power and Pride

Author: Ese, Youth Ambassador and Heartwood Project Youth Leadership Group Member

Often in environmental spaces you see the same type of people representing and advocating for nature. This lack of representation can deter other people who are from diverse backgrounds from joining in and taking action as there is a fear of not fitting in or being welcomed and accepted. Well, what I can say as a young black female is that I refuse to let social norms stop me from using my power and voice! 

In a world where environmental issues can seem overwhelming and insignificant to a lot of people my age, I believe that my role is to educate and be an advocate for the environment by my actions and my words which is something that I never thought I would be able to do without the work of Action for Conservation (AFC). To me power and pride is not about dominance it is to do with resilience and courage, to be motivated to step out and away from stereotypes and step into movements that are highly unrepresented to bring other likeminded people together to care for the natural world.

AFC’s mission of allowing young people to be decision-makers and have a hands-on impact in helping the environment has enabled me to channel this drive I have into action. With the continuous support from AFC, I have had the opportunity to step into a leadership role at the intergenerational nature restoration initiative, The Heartwood Project, in Derbyshire. During a Community Action Day on the site I spoke to young people who were wanting to join our group for young conservationists and to put their passion into action. After finding out these same young people joined the group I was proud to see how I inspired them to get involved. I never thought that my voice would matter as I did not have as much knowledge about conservation practices and methods but to find that just my passion alone led them to apply and join was extremely rewarding. Being part of the youth leadership group (YLG) gave me the opportunity  to be a part of the restoration of a farm in Derbyshire. The project (Heartwood) has allowed me to learn about and take part in hands-on conservation and restoration activities to make the site better for nature and people. I have been able to participate in activities like species monitoring, habitat creation (things like making ponds and tree planting just to name a few), food growing and many more activities purely for the land's benefit.

All the project activities were planned, led, and executed by young people. Being a leader gave me a sense of responsibility and control over the future of Heartwood and it was exciting to realise that we were making a change and are now part of the future of Heartwood.The ability to make decisions and be a part of a movement gives all young people, not just me a sense of pride as we can now be involved and included in matters that affect us and our futures.

It provides me with an opportunity to exercise my belief that environmental matters are a shared responsibility and as everyone is affected everyone should be included in the conversations, decisions and actions that should follow.

Personally, I came from a background of little to no regard for environmental matters and I often felt out of place when I first joined AFC. But little did I know that my knowledge which is more on the scientific side was equally important. My knowledge combined with other people whose interests are more conservation focussed creates a mix of diverse voices which strengthens our movement. Our differences should not divide us but should allow depth and creativity. This is why it is so important for young people like me to have access to opportunities where their voices too can be heard.

To conclude, all young people should feel able to directly have a positive impact on the environment by having access to opportunities that thrive on their voices alone. We all deserve to be proud and stand firm in our beliefs which is only possible by organisations like AFC that are confident in our success and enable us to continue to voice our ideas regarding the environment.

Diverse voices bring power and strength to the movement.

We all have a purpose and seat in environmental conversations and should not be deterred away. We should all work together to disregard lack of representation and regard the diverse voices in conservational spaces.

Thanks for reading!

Ese