Raising the next generation of environmental leaders

By Izzah Ammara Khojah

Today I want to share with you about a charity which I’m a young ambassador for. It’s Action for Conservation, a charity that inspires and empowers young people like me to be the next generation of environmentally aware leaders.

This charity is not just for teens who want to become a geologist or work as weather reporters but exists to educate any type of teen. I mean people who damage the environment without realizing it and may not yet have the knowledge or awareness of how to care for it .AFC decided to get to the root cause and educate teens about this. It means if I grow up to be a movie star (which I aspire to) I will still be educated and able to help the environment, and influence others to do the same

AFC orchestrated a trip to Chester Zoo. You must be thinking, oh how were the animals? was going there a fun experience? Well, what if I told you I did not go even to see the animals! There was a different intention altogether. I participated in the Chester Zoo Youth Symposium 2023. At the event, AFC was invited as the only young people organization there. Among us were geologists, students, professors, and even workers at the zoo. We all gathered together to inspire, move, and teach each other about the nature topics we presented. Because I had done an AFC 5-day camp in the summer holiday (FREE) I was later invited to be an ambassador. We represent the AFC charity at various events in Yorkshire and it’s filled with fun.

This is a great opportunity for any teenager. and the great news it was all for free: the camps, the youth symposium, the travel, and the food. The requisite I had to do was submit an application saying why I thought that I should go to that camp and an environmental topic that I was passionate about. I wrote about nuclear power and its effects on the earth and I got in! I had a great time and my cousins accompanied me to top it up. The staff went out of their way to make sure that we were all comfortable and all our needs were met including dietary and travel arrangements.

During the AFC camp, we were able to explore the nature around us by going on nice walks, playing in a river, star gazing, doing fun nature-loving activities (barefoot in sand) helping with cooking and foraging our ingredients. There were two dormitories, one for the boys and one for the girls. You had bunkbeds in a cosy room with spectacular nature views, and you could hear the morning call from the chirpy birds. The house was warmly lit but your sleeping bags did that job too.

Overall I would say that action for conservation was a great opportunity that made me see nature and the world we were living in better so if you would like to apply or know someone who would here’s the link and best of luck 🙂