Devising a sound communication channel is often deemed critical in re-establishing trust over an issue especially when portraying biodiversity conservation. Conserving the ecosystem and thus reviving species diversity has remained a subject of debate among the policymakers. Therefore, it is highly imperative to foresee various sustainable strategies that would enable the decision-makers to reflect on transformative changes in the long run.
Embarking on a robust communication system allows us to reach a wider audience, political fraternities, policymakers, and most importantly conservation cohorts who wish to serve for nature and its sustainable goals. To achieve this mission, we must look forward to informing and building awareness among people about the significance of biodiversity and its influence on the quality of people's lives.
Precise Transfer of Knowledge
One of the fundamental actions in communicating biodiversity is the readiness to listen to others. The art of listening enables us to develop a sounder coalition and further deepens our sense of belonging to the issue. In most cases, the focal point of biodiversity communication remains the same which is to engage the youth and empower their existing notions about conservation strategies. Avoiding obscure languages while addressing biodiversity issues is essential to convey desirable messages to the audience. Hence, before narrating a problem, the moderator must have a clearer picture of their potential audience, what do they already know about the topic, and why do they need to know about this?
Resolving the communication gap among the public has become the need of the hour. To bridge this gap, one who is in charge of disseminating the issues must have a profound knowledge in carrying out informational interviews and community surveys. In this way, one can reach out to more people and soon start to gather reliable resources and public perspectives about biodiversity conservation. There are several effective communication pathways through which the narratives can reach the desirable actors who are capable of driving positive changes. It includes in-person interaction, community-based education, print and mass media communication, and social media outreach. These channels have proven useful in reaching a wider audience especially, the people who have limited access to updated resources.
Collaborative Efforts to Build Back Better
Timing is a crucial factor to consider while addressing conservation issues especially when the impact is rising. Timely advocated actions determine the longevity of any successful mission and therefore, raising the topics and educating people on time is essential to develop response and resilience. In addition to this, advocating around the biodiversity issues and amplifying the role of various stakeholders enables us to represent biodiversity conservation as a national priority. The community stakeholders are accountable for promoting awareness and fostering changes among the public. Some of the key stakeholders include the head of the state, the legislator in charge of the environmental policy, authorities and project heads at the ministry of environment, conservation cohorts, business owners, and community leaders who are capable of influencing the society.
There are three robust ways to reach stakeholders effectively;
Opinion Leaders- Opinion leaders are people who others would follow, for instance, a national celebrity who is passionate about advocating for sustainable development goals. Secondly, the group of people who have valued skills (scientists who have worked in conservation projects). Thirdly, the set of people who are around trusted networks and sources of information (journalists, leader of an indigenous group). Practical training and workshops can be carried out to enlighten the thoughts of opinion leaders.
Focus Groups- These are a small set of groups whose response and perspective on a given topic is reviewed and studied in open discussions. Engaging with the focus groups enable us to understand the growing impact of the issue and the pragmatic ways to contain its influence on the livelihood of people. Focus groups may involve communities and indigenous groups.
Innovators- Primary stakeholders are forever keen to see their peers or influential figures adopt new strategies or inventions before they decide to embark on something new and challenging. Similarly, society desires to witness dramatic turnarounds and actions from their stakeholders which in the end revolves around active engagement and holistic administration.
Engaging more actors and key exponents through word of mouth communication is considered substantial in driving social and responsive changes at the grassroots level. Communicating biodiversity demands a multifaceted approach. Therefore, incorporating storytelling skills and testimonials would highlight the importance of the issue among the public eye. To embrace the value of biodiversity conservation, we must look to foster behavioral changes among the public. This can be accomplished by inviting the following steps: understand your audience, must know how to gauge your audience, make changes worth it, interact with community organizations, get people talking, build a movement, identify and eliminate obstacles, and finally measure the progress.
Conclusion
Communicating the values of biodiversity in this new normal has become ever so more challenging than before. However, forming a sounder coalition with different actors and stakeholders opens up new windows and pathways to stay informed on the timeline for future actions. When it comes to biodiversity conservation, the essentiality of networking and tracking progress becomes an indispensable part. Therefore, taking one step at a time proves inevitable to foster transformative changes in the long run.
Reference
1. Communicating the value of biodiversity, Online Course by Learn for Nature.
Author
Shelton Sibi
B.Sc. (Hons) Agriculture
Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology, and Sciences. Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh