Three creative ways to communicate the importance of biodiversity
Approximately 15% of British wildlife is at risk of extinction. Since 1970, 133 species have gone extinct and, for the species remaining, more population numbers have declined than increased. Even though progress has been made, the country is still unlikely to meet its 2020 Convention Biological Diversity (CBD) target.
Of the eight key drivers of biodiversity change, only one — pollution — is falling. The other seven drivers are increasing in their impact making biodiversity loss worse. The single biggest driver is agricultural management and that accounts for 69% of current land use in England.
In spite of this, public sector spending on biodiversity has actually fallen by 42% over the past ten years. This needs to change. Pressure from the general public could be one way to put biodiversity, and spending on it, high up the government’s agenda.
And while public support for conservation continues to grow, their understanding of biodiversity is lacking. Climate change gets eight times the media coverage that biodiversity gets. When biodiversity is communicated, the difference between the mass extinction of species and background extinction is hard for many people to grasp. Furthermore, many people place a greater value on larger, more charismatic animals, such as the polar bear and pandas, than the plants and animals which provide critical goods and services. For example, bees provide the critical service of pollination and termites recycle waste material.
So, here I am going to share three ideas for communicating the importance of biodiversity to the average person in Britain.
1. Wild Spy — Pokemon Go for Wildlife Identification
One of the first location-based augmented reality (AR) games in the country was Pokemon Go. It was and is still a huge success. Approximately 9.5 million people over 13 play the game.
An idea I have is to use the passion people have for Pokemon Go in wildlife identification. What if instead of collecting Pokemon, you could identify and collect wildlife? What if you could build up a collection of wildlife cards in the same way people collect football cards? What if these wildlife cards had information about the species, the goods and services they provide, and their habitat?
2. Biodiversity AR filter
A simpler use of AR is in AR filters for social media. Many of Instagram stories’ 400 million monthly users have tried one. These filters can tell you which Disney character you resemble; what type of egg you are; and can even give you eco-friendly tips to improve your sustainability.
What if there was also an AR filter to tell you what British wildlife you resemble? What if this filter linked to a page where you could find out what this species eats; what their role is in the ecosystem and more? Learning about biodiversity can and should be fun.
3. Biodiversity Tamagotchi
When I was in my early teens, I learned about looking after animals through my Tamagotchi — an egg-shaped digital pet. It did not poop or vomit, but it did demand attention and care.
After its launch in 1996, sales of Tamagotchis reached 82 million. And they are about to make a comeback. In July this year Bandai America is launching a new model — Tamagotchi On Wonder Garden — with more functions than before.
What if there was an educational Tamagotchi for biodiversity? What if you could grow your British species Tamagotchi by taking bite-sized educational modules in Biodiversity? What if you could connect and communicate with other Tamagotchis from other species and share knowledge and information?
These are just three ideas. I have more.
If you want to read more, please do comment below. I am always open to suggestions.
Sources:
https://nbn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/State-of-Nature-2019-England-27-09-19.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2017.00175/full
https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/shopping-deals/tamagotchi-making-comeback-you-can-16205862
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415000426
