Forest Conservation
Forest conservation is a challenge faced by communities all over the world. Forest land is regularly destroyed by illegal logging practices, climate change, forest fires, and cultivated for agricultural use. Numerous panels exist to address this problem, and while progress has been made, there are still steps to be taken.
Why should an individual be concerned about the conservation of forestland?
Forests are home to some of the most culturally rich indigenous communities in the world, whose livelihood depends on the sustainability of the environment around them. (According to WWF)
Forests are the home of thousands of species of flora and fauna, loss of forests would mean the loss of much of the world's biodiversity. Furthermore, forests are naturally sophisticated systems which help to counteract problems associated with climate change and negative human impact.
Forests are home to some of the most culturally rich indigenous communities in the world, whose livelihood depends on the sustainability of the environment around them. (According to WWF)
Forests are the home of thousands of species of flora and fauna, loss of forests would mean the loss of much of the world's biodiversity. Furthermore, forests are naturally sophisticated systems which help to counteract problems associated with climate change and negative human impact.
Public Relations, Conservation & Starting the Conversation
In order to conserve forestland, people need to know what's at risk and what they can do. There are countless organizations which exist for this sole purpose and this is where public relations come into play.
It all begins with a conversation. People need to know why the forest land is important, what activities are detrimental, and what they can do to reverse the damages. This conversation needs to be powerful, the people must feel impacted in order to incite change. How do you make an impact? How do you change minds? There are tools that can help.
It all begins with a conversation. People need to know why the forest land is important, what activities are detrimental, and what they can do to reverse the damages. This conversation needs to be powerful, the people must feel impacted in order to incite change. How do you make an impact? How do you change minds? There are tools that can help.
Esri, Economic and Social Research Institute, makes software called ArcGIS (Geographic Information System) which allows users to generate sophisticated maps for representing specific data about geographic areas, demographics, and other pertinent information.
Facebook is an excellent platform for reaching massive amounts of people in no time at all. However, Facebook is a website used primarily for brief, consolidated communication. It is a great place to provide news updates, contact information and links to more thorough websites about forest conservation.
Instagram incorporates photography and social media. While it lacks the information potential found in Esri products and Facebook, Instagram is a mechanism that acts like a conversation starter in that it can capture the attention of a viewer and ideally incite the interest to learn more. Instagram also allows users to access massive amounts of photos by categorizing them and linking them with hashtags i.e. "#green, #environment, #forests, #conservation, #climatechange" etc.