Conservation what can you do

EDIT: A few people have very helpfully pointed out, that you should feel constrained by just one of these options. Ecological consultants generally provide a range of services on a contract basis to organisations that do not employ specialist staff or have insufficient expertise. Topics can be varied, from forestry and water quality management, down to species specific work such as bat surveys , or novel technologies like eDNA.

A few years in an ecological consultancy is a good opportunity to develop good fieldwork and survey skills. On the downside, some companies probably commission ecological work out of necessity, with little interest in acting on it beyond what is legally required.

Ecological consultancy jobs are also some of the most readily advertised and most straight forward to apply for. Some people just want to get stuck in. This could range from working on nature reserves in the UK or abroad, to volunteering overseas.

Does that really matter? Sometimes I wonder… but for most conservationists, at some point in their lives there is an urge to try and make a bigger difference, beyond your own limited sphere of influence. Some of my own formative experiences were out in Madagascar and South Africa.

What could be better than being surrounded by people who share your passion and determination to make the world a better place, saving species and habitats and reconnecting people with nature? By contrast, there are many more smaller NGOs and they often have slightly more specialised aims or campaigns. Luckily, I have another friend with experiences in smaller NGOs:. It is very rewarding, because you actually making it happen.

Most of the time, your efforts are not enough to solve the problem. No matter how hard you try. My own view is simply to strive to be great at what you do; at some point a TV career might just come knocking. Similar to the TV star avenue, but this time behind the lens. The explosion of relatively cheap, but professional quality kit, has made photography and filmmaking increasingly popular among environmentalists.

The downside? Practice, practice, practice. Lastly, possible the best conservation blog on the interweb is run by conservation scientist Corey Bradshaw , down under. This path is often more of a life choice that could see you out in the field for years, rather than an extended voluntourism opportunity.

But for the right person, it can offer an unparalleled level of experience. Conservation is increasingly a battle waged from the glare of a computer screen.

Conservation is crying out for coders, IT experts and people who can come up with novel solutions to hard problems.

Snapshot Serengetti , for example, came up with a way to identify the species in millions of photographs from hundreds of camera traps, using volunteers from around the world. A few years ago, that would have been an impossible task!

Alternatively, you could launch your own science themed crowdfunding setup, like Walacea , or use business to support novel ocean conservation solutions.

Some scientists think we might have entered our sixth mass extinction event driven largely by human activity. Our planet is dependent on an interconnected system. If we lose one species, how does that impact the whole system? What if we lose hundreds? Help your students understand the gravity of extinction with these classroom resources. As many as one million species face the reality of extinction unless humans work to protect them. Use this map to learn about some animal species and conservation efforts.

As a result, they develop research-based action steps critical to protecting a certain species and incorporate key findings into their culminating conservation pamphlets.

This lesson is part of the Engaging in the Fight Against Extinction unit. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students.

Skip to content. Image Conserving Land and Life Establishing protected areas not only helps conserve the natural landscape and geography, but also the wildlife that lives there, like these western grey kangaroos Macropus fuliginosus in Flinders Chase National Park in South Australia, Australia.

Photograph by Joe Scherschel. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

Media If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. Text Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Interactives Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. Related Resources. View Collection. Extinction Stinks! This includes jobs which directly benefit wildlife conservation like a Project Officer for a marine protected area in Fiji. It also includes roles which indirectly benefit biodiversity conservation efforts, such as a Communications Manager role, whose job is it to raise the profile of a conservation organisation, so that staff such as their Project Officer can get to work protecting that Fijian marine reserve.

These include conservation leaders such as:. Zoos, sanctuaries, aquariums and rehabilitation centres are playing an increasingly important role in conservation and education programmes. Eventually she hopes to eradicate the demand for elephant riding overall and ensure that all other forms of elephant based tourism put the needs of the animals as the priority. The idea is to encourage all shareholders in elephant tourism to want to make the change to a more ethical model and Dionne has to utilise all her people skills as well as her extensive knowledge of animal welfare in order to do this.

Her job role as a Director is very varied, and flexibility is key. At any one time she could be tasked with implementing a rescue, planning the future of the centre, assisting with veterinary care or even looking into finance and human resources. Veterinarians also work in conservation and are often classified into the field of Conservation Medicine. As a wildlife veterinarian you rarely treat the animals themselves.

Instead, your focus is on keeping their habitat safe for them and safe for the humans living there. The main part of the job is educating people living with or around wildlife on how to act if they ever encounter it and how they have to treat their environment. The role of zoo veterinarians in conservation has expanded significantly over the past few decades.

It is often assumed that a zoo veterinarian is only responsible for treating a zoo animal when it gets ill and keeping the overall collection of animals healthy. However, this is only a fraction of the work they do, as they are now involved in the more traditional ex situ conservation projects and education, but also in rehabilitation and reintroduction projects.

Of course, not every zoo veterinarian does all of these things, but conservation is becoming an ever-growing part of the job in many institutions. The veterinarians that are truly invaluable to conservation are those that have dedicated their lives to specialising in subjects essential for the work with endangered species and wildlife in general.

Read more about working in conservation as a vet here. In my experience, these types of organisations are less impressed with academic achievements and more focused on hands-on experience. To date we have published animal welfare conservation jobs on Conservation Careers.

Discover the latest Animal Welfare Conservation Jobs. One could argue that the single most influential conservationist of our time works in communications. Sir David Attenborough has written and presented his knowledge and passion for the natural world and inspired scores of young people to love the natural world, and almost as many to seek to help it.

Working in Communications and Marketing is a fast growing area of conservation. Your role is to identify, research and develop engaging stories for different audiences across multiple formats and channels.

I write content for grant applications, organise events, and run public competitions. Communications plans are about how projects communicate with their various audiences. Campaigns are broader programmes to raise awareness, typically focused on a charismatic species, and help maximise the support we can get for connected projects and activities.

Other like-minded people are not competition, they are a support network. More organisations are seeing local people as key stakeholders in the process of conservation. There is a need for people to work effectively within different cultural settings and languages to deliver benefits for people and the planet.

People often get into conservation to work with animals, and then realise conservation is all about working with people. Increasingly conservation organisations are engaging in activities and projects which put local people at the heart of their work — seeing them as part of the solution to the problems in the natural world.

If you enjoy working with people, work well in different cultural settings and enjoy finding solutions for people and the planet then community-based conservation might be for you. Typical early career job titles in this area are Community Outreach Officer and Local Empowerment Officer, and they include the following duties:. No day is like the other. Who knows what tomorrow will bring! I feel that a good background knowledge of all conservation issues is extremely useful in my current role.

If you really want to make a positive impact, you must involve the people who are most affected by degrading ecosystems. Communities, often in remote areas, are on the front lines of conservation. Engage them at every level to find solutions that work for them. Discover the latest Community-based Conservation Jobs.

Being involved in countryside management means working on the practical side of conservation, and getting your hands dirty. There are two important aspects of managing sites — the habitat and the visitor access. Habitat could be grassland, wetland, woodland etc. If you enjoy being outside, hard work and being in touch with people and sites, this could be the role for you! Adjacent is Grimston Warren, an area of land that is undergoing heathland restoration from conifer plantation.

Spring into summer is the breeding season, an opportunity to survey the reserve for breeding birds nightjar, woodlark, etc.

Other tasks over the year include machinery and estate maintenance i. In the habitat management field, you will inevitably have to volunteer after you graduate. Once you have that baseline volunteer experience, I suggest to download job requirements regardless and compare your skills to the ones asked by the employer.

Ecotourism is a fast-growing branch of the tourism industry. Ecotourism focuses on showing people the natural world and its wildlife. First, conservation is a very competitive field and sometimes a job can be a hard thing to find. Sending out loads of applications with no results is something many conservation students have come to dread, even before they plunge into the job market.

This can happen to many people, even those who have done the almost-mandatory volunteering in conservation. Take the example of Chris Thompson. Second, being in the ecotourism industry can be a way to marry your passion for nature and your will to be active in conservation with your more entrepreneurial side, should you have one.

Working with people and showing them the natural world is perhaps the single most important thing to do in conservation if we are to guarantee the future and sustainability of our ecosystems. So, if ecotourism is something that appeals to you, it might be your way into conservation.

Check our our Ultimate Guide Careers in Ecotourism to learn even more about the roles available within ecotourism. Check out the latest Ecotourism Jobs.