Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Conservation Messages


Well, I really like sea turtles but our pollution is killing all of them and there is nothing I can do about it.” – Conversation with a six year old at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

In the post “Honoring the Developmental Stages,” Sobel is cited saying that one of the first steps to protecting the environment is to foster a love of nature in children.  Ways to foster this love are through the development of animal friends, Imagination and free exploration and play.  So what do you do after you have succeeded in getting people to care about nature?  The next step is to give  people options or manageable tasks, or conservation messaged to complete.  

These conservation messages are so important because without them, museum guests are in danger of suffering from ecophobia.  The media tends to lean towards the doom and gloom approach when trying to probe people into environmental action.  This can cause adverse reactions, especially in children who have grown to love nature.  People are often left feeling like the problem is too big for them to have any effect, just like the six-year-old at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  

Disney’s Animal Programs has 7 Guidelines to Wildlife Conservation Action that their educators go to when having conversations with guests out in the park just for this reason.  These manageable tasks allow people of all ages, especially children, to feel like they have the ability to help and protect the things they love so they are not left feeling the effects of ecophobia.  
The guidelines are:

1.) Seek out information about conservation issues
2.) Spread the word to others about the value of wildlife
3.)Look for and purchase products that are friendly to the environment
4.) Create habitats for wildlife in your backyard
5.) Reduce, reuse, recycle and replenish
6.) Choose your pet wisely
7.) Support conservation organizations through contributions and volunteerism

These messages can be applied to every age group in almost every situation.  One great way to do this is to use the idea of Place-Based education that was mentioned in the last post.  Use the wildlife in your area to inspire conservation action.  Nature is every where and even in a city, you can find some great ways to connect museum visitors to their environment.

Here is an example using watersheds in Washington DC:
1.) Look up your local Watershed and learn more about it.
2.) Spread the word to your friends about what you discovered.
3.) Start using re-usable bags at the grocery store or purchase cleaning products that are environmentally friendly after realizing that your waste often ends up in the watershed.
4.) Plant a tree at a local park or pick up trash when you see it on the ground.  
5.) Reduce, reuse, recycle and replenish
6.) Did you know that outside cats are harmful to local animals, especially birds?
7.) Did you know D.C. has food co-ops?  Find one near you to see of you can join to help reduce emissions from food having to be transported into the city.  They are also often organic, meaning pesticides will not run off into your watershed.  You could also volunteer for a river clean-up or start your own organization to help spread the word about your local watershed. 

1 comment:

  1. I think you hit on something really important when you say "manageable tasks". As someone who grew up pretty ignorant of conservation issues, I remember wanting clear directions on how I can directly impact my environment or my own life, etc.

    I think it would also be important to show our "small" efforts will lead to big changes. That would encourage visitors to participate even more.

    --Audrey Ra

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