“I am Olaoluwa Adetula, I will be bringing you updates as events unfold at #GLFBonn2020. Follow @GlobalLF #GLFBonn2020 for more updates. Please register to be part of the event,” posted Olaoluwa Adetula from Nigeria on Twitter on 27 May 2020.
Conversation-starters for change
By Monica Evans
The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered home that every person on the planet has a role to play in protecting human, animal and environmental health. But how can we reach those who are overwhelmed, uncommitted or don’t know where to start?
Research has shown that people are more likely to change their behaviour when they see someone they know and trust doing it.
Enter the GLF Social Media Ambassadors: twenty-eight people, aged 18-35, from 17 countries across five continents. These inspirational young leaders are using their own social media channels to spark conversations, shift narratives, inspire and build awareness about sustainable landscapes, climate-change mitigation, global health and food system transformation – using their voice, their language, and their way.
The social media ambassadors pin their locations on a map during a GLF Social Media Training Bootcamp.
Yohana Alemseged (@SabaMay24), who is from Eritrea but lives in the United States, hopes through her ambassadorship to “convince the people, using my native language, to sustain something they love and empower their decisions. My goal is to make people aware of the endangered species and [that] abusing the forest will cause climate change.”
Hira Suman shares how during lockdown, she and her colleagues at the UN Association of Pakistan used a social media campaign to collect enough money for food parcels for 10,000 people. “Social media has the power to take the world closer to sustainable land use,” she says, “and I want to turn that potential into reality.”
“Every time you buy a product you are voting for the kind of economic development you want,” says Sabine Cudney (@NotiSelvas), a Mexican landscape and canopy ecologist, on an Instagram post showing fresh farmers’ market produce. She’s become an Ambassador in the hopes of “sharing the good news” that’s easy to forget about in the conservation scene, and “inform[ing] people of the science-based solutions that can help create a better coexistence between humans and nature.”
Over in Uganda, Olupot Joseph (@joseolupot) is a nutritionist, dietician, DJ and passionate permaculturist. He’s been sharing educational posts like the one below, which explains some of the nutritional benefits of guava leaves and tells followers how to make them into tea.
The other Ambassadors are Iryna Ponedelnik from Belarus; Ana Prada from Colombia; Saša Danon from Croatia; Hyginus Laari from Ghana; Noor Pasha from India; Nisrina Alissabila from Indonesia; Daniel Ngotho, Chantal Esperance, Jaramogi Ochoro A. Ronny and Simon Onyango from Kenya; Jimmy Rakotova from Madagascar; Hussein Orekoya, Adeleke Eyitayo, Olaoluwa I. Adetula, Idemudia Ebanehita, Ibrahim Inusa, Abisoye T. Rebecca and Anita Nma from Nigeria; David Muzusangabo from the Democratic Republic of Congo; Nakiberu Shadiah and Julius Nyanda from Uganda; and Vanessa Lau and Katie Koerper from the United States. They’re posting across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Youtube.
And remember: the solutions to the crises we face require input from all of us. You don’t have to be an official GLF Social Media Ambassador to start inspiring others to care about landscape restoration and sustainable food systems – or to join us all at GLF Bonn 2020! You never know who you might reach, so use your social media strategically and help grow the movement for change! (Don’t forget to use our hashtag, #GLFBonn2020.)
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