Research
Action for Conservation
Professor David Macdonald has been Chair of Action for Conservation (AFC) since it was founded in 2015. AFC is an environmental education charity that aims to inspire every young person in the UK to a lifelong passion for the living world, working to engage young people between the ages of 12 and 18. By bringing seasoned professionals trained in innovative engagement techniques and practical skill-building into classrooms they aim to demystify environmental conservation for today’s young people and inspire life-long action whatever their chosen day job. Several of WildCRU’s staff and graduate students have contributed to AFC’s classroom programme, including recently Laila Bahaa-el-din.
Worryingly, only 21% of children are adequately connected to the natural world, and children and young people who don’t feel connected to nature are far less likely to fight to protect it. Through school workshops, opportunities made available through partners such as the National Trust, and residential summer camps, AFC are taking action to inspire a youth movement that will change the face of conservation and make it a part of every young person’s life.
For further information on Action for Conservation please visit www.actionforconservation.org
We are exploring links between AFC and WildCRU’s programme of learning with innovative teaching methods, through gaming and role play, much of which was inspired by and developed alongside Dr Cedric Tan’s teaching of the WildCRU’s Recanati-Kaplan Centre Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice in the Panthera buildings.
