We need to promote environmental literacy and sustainable action alongside scientific literacy to enable youngsters to participate in solving real-world environmental problems
Summer holidays aka vacation time/ hill station time. For one 11-year-old girl, this meant a family trip to Khandala, the most popular getaways for many a Mumbaikar in the late 1990s. On one such trip, during a late afternoon stroll, I had my first real and, most memorable, “wildlife experience”.
As I scrambled over the dry shrubbery on a small hillside, a sound to my right made me stop short. As I searched for the source of the rustling, a large snake came into view. At least five feet in length, but looking much larger to a much smaller me, the sinewy silvery beauty shone in the afternoon light till, with a lightning strike it lunged and caught a mouse that I hadn’t even noticed.
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The encounter must have lasted all of 15 seconds but, for me, time had come to a stop, and the scene unfolded in a slow-motion sequence. When people ask me what made me choose wildlife as my choice of education and profession, I go back to that afternoon and to the awe and wonder I felt as I watched an Indian rat snake (as I later discovered) seek and successfully devour a snack.
Having had numerous interactions with young students and youth — who reflect the same fervour and wonder for the natural world I felt all those years ago and still feel today — the passion seldom transcends into a career, as the path from passion to profession is not well-defined. While the niche fields of Wildlife, Environment and Natural History Studies is slowly gaining popularity, it is far from most mainstream subjects. However, just as the environment and positive action for its protection is gaining traction, so are the fields responsible in training those that can undertake said action.
Options and scope
The commonest question I get asked by parents and students is: what is the scope? To which the answer is: the sky is the limit! One option is academia; working as a researcher or scientist to study the natural world. With environmental action gaining prominence in national and international dialogue and mandates, there is an increasing need for people with sound understanding of the environment to be a part of policy making.
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Similarly, with corporations expanding their efforts in social responsibility to incorporate sustainable and environmentally friendly initiatives, creating vacancies for individuals trained in the subject are also being created. Suitable green-career opportunities also exist in a large number of non-governmental and not-for-profit organisations working for the protection of nature and wildlife. Other careers include the Forest Services, State Biodiversity Boards and Zoological Parks under the Government of India. Eco-tourism is a growing attraction as a vocation alongside the well-established fields of journalism, law and teaching, specifically for and about the environment.
There also exists a plethora of atypical professions in this already niche field. Some of the more interesting ones (in terms of both job profiles and the people who do them) include environmental cartoonists and illustrators who use art and the written word to spread awareness. Another avenue for the creatively inclined is wildlife filmmaking.
Not only has the scope for green careers widened significantly, so have the institutions that offer subjects such as Wildlife Sciences, Animal conservation, Biological Studies and so on. Ten years ago, I had a hard time finding a suitable college but, today, the options available are manifold. This paves the way to build a cadre of environmentally conscious individuals; an important step, as youth are major stakeholders for a sustainable future.
This makes it essential that youth select careers that enhance their understanding of the environment and empower them to solve environmental challenges. As a nation, it is imperative to promote and bolster environmental literacy and sustainable action alongside scientific literacy in order to build practical knowledge about local and global environmental issues required in real-world environmental problem solving.
NOTE – This article was originally published in thehindu and can be viewed here
Tags: #climate, #climatechange, #consciousyouth, #enivironment, #environmentally, #getgreengetgrowing, #gngagritech, #greenstories, #naturalworld, #nature, #wildlife
