FREE| 12:00PM - 1:00PM | Presenter: Marilu Lopez Fretts
Organization: Celebrate Urban Birds (Cornell)
Meeting Location: Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2nd floor
No Registration Required
When people in communities feel connected to and responsible for their local environment, they are more likely to engage in conservation efforts and take actions that benefit everyone. Collaborations and partnerships between science institutions and communities not represented in the sciences are vital to the success of conservation efforts, and birdwatching and appreciation are examples.
Equity in Birdwatching: Reflections and Experiences through a Community-led Perspective invites the audience to reflect on issues of equity, inclusion, social justice, and community-led conservation efforts focused on birds and habitats. Through our project, Celebrate Urban Birds, and the leadership of our community partners, we share examples that help us carry out actions to learn and better understand our position as a community and as individuals so that all people can participate in birding.
By addressing equity, inclusion, and justice issues and learning about them from diverse perspectives, we can transform our knowledge and apply it to benefit those who experience exclusion. This process enriches our understanding and shares a message that fosters the conservation of our planet's natural wealth.
The events sparked by racist acts, the isolation during COVID-19 pandemic, and the wars that happen every day around the world commit us to learning and working purposely on these issues. Birding is an activity growing in different parts of the world and has the potential to connect us not only to nature but to other cultures and unify us all. Birds are more than indicators of a healthy environment; they also allow us to learn, find, and inspire solutions to issues that extend to many areas of our lives.
Celebrate Urban Birds is a community-led science project from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology based on equity and inclusive practices in birding and ornithology.