The Wild-Live Streaming team recently hosted a new event, this time at Highams Park School in Northeast London. This event was designed for Year 12 students who are preparing to apply for university, making it the perfect time to bring the exciting world of biodiversity conservation into the classroom. This event featured Biosfera, an NGO based on the island of São Vicente, Cabo Verde. Biosfera works to conserve marine species and their habitat, collaborating closely with local communities for many projects. Through short videos and live Q&As with Alberto Queiruga, the conservation department coordinator for Biosfera, and Nathalie Melo, a biologist, and artistic designer, the students gained broad insights into the NGO’s marine conservation work.
The videos showcased the biodiversity of São Vicente, conservation practices for seabirds, sharks and sea turtles, as well as nationwide outreach initiatives undertaken by Biosfera. Students were particularly captivated by footage related to tagging methods for sharks, which led to them asking many questions about the techniques used to study them. Alberto and Nathalie addressed how the methods used by Biosfera to tag sharks are safe, both for the researchers and the animals, and discussed the type of data that can be collected following the tagging process. The impact of climate change on marine life in Cabo Verde also struck a chord with the students, sparking discussions on the immediate and long-term effects of this global challenge. Students were particularly interested in whether impacts can already be seen, especially relating to the movement patterns of sharks. This led to further interesting discussions in which Alberto and Nathalie discussed some of the challenges associated with researching large, migratory megafauna, such as not being able to find and tag enough individuals. These challenges have resulted in knowledge gaps that currently make it difficult to conclude exactly how climate change has already impacted shark species around Cabo Verde.
The Q&A sessions focused on the significance of conserving endemic species as well as how Biosfera approaches the political challenges associated with the fishing industry. In particular, they explored the complexities surrounding sustainable fishing practices, emphasising the need for a delicate balance between conservation and socio-economic considerations. When local people rely on the fishing industry it becomes more important than ever to consider the interests of all ocean stakeholders and come up with balanced solutions that help people as well as conserve biodiversity. With the students set to study these topics in detail next year, the first-hand insights provided by Alberto and Nathalie about how NGOs might get involved in promoting sustainable fisheries management, proved invaluable.
We hope that the event served as an eye-opening experience for the students, many of whom had grown up in urban areas with limited opportunities to encounter wildlife themselves. The Q&A sessions had a strong career focus to fit with the interests of the Year 12 audience, highlighting diverse career paths in biology and conservation including careers focused on research, management, policy, and media production. In addition to career discussions, students were eager to learn about what it is like to study biology at the university level. They sought advice on what to look for in undergraduate courses and the skills that can be developed by undertaking Masters or PhD programmes.
At the start of the session, no students felt as though they knew how to get involved with an NGO, but at the end 55% agreed or strongly agreed that they knew how to get involved with an NGO. 55% of students also said that they could imagine themselves working as a scientist or in conservation by the end of the session, compared with only 30% at the session start. In her feedback, one teacher wrote that the session was “An excellent event much enjoyed by the students and the teachers!”.
Overall, discussing conservation directly with experts Alberto and Nathalie allowed the Year 12 students to see how some of the topics they are currently studying relate to real, ongoing conservation work. As they embark on their university journeys, we hope that these students are now armed with a newfound enthusiasm to make a positive impact on our planet's ecosystems and contribute to the ongoing preservation of biodiversity.