As technologies develop and our lives become more convenient, the environment crumbles. The deforestation, pollution, and poaching of wildlife have pushed the Earth to its limits, desperate for action. Although these issues are mainly caused by humans, there are many people working to solve them.
Life in Africa
Andrea McDonald, a primary school teacher in UWCSEA, is one of these people. She spent several years living with the wilderness of Botswana. During that time, she worked with an NGO called the Elephant Outreach Program where they educate people from villages in Botswana on how to coexist with the elephants and their significance to biodiversity.
In Botswana, the elephants are very well protected. However, they are seen as threats to some of the villages in that area. They can damage their crops, therefore the villagers try to steer them away from the villages.
Andrea’s experience was filled with many challenges and memorable moments. She was 
constantly encountering the creatures of Botswana such as rhinos, lions, leopards and of course, elephants. She had mentioned how the challenges she faced during her time in Botswana had been a great learning experience. Such as adapting to the rural environment. Dealing with the lack of internet, dangerous animals and trying to connect with the villagers. But from this, she had also gotten many wonderful experiences. One of them being the bonding she had with nature. Even though it had scared her and challenged her at times, she still enjoyed the experience, especially with the elephants.
From her experience in Botswana, Andrea McDonald wants to spread awareness about not only the African Elephants but wildlife overall. The Elephant Outreach Program and her are trying to educate people to coexist with nature and to take care of each other. She believes that the world is in desperate need of change and this damage which humans have caused on nature must be acted upon.
Life Underwater
Al Hornsby is a wildlife photographer and has authored 3 books. From a young age, he’s been interested in nature and loved being in the water. As soon as he discovered diving, he wanted it to be a part of his life and career. When he saw that photographers were one of the first people to bring awareness about wildlife and its conservation, he knew instantly that he was going to become a photographer.
His father had been a woodworker and had Native American roots, therefore he grew up with a respect for nature and the mindset to co-exist with it. His father had often said “If we can sit here, real quiet and still, the animals will often come to us. If they don’t notice us, they may walk right up. And if they do realize that we are here, they may be curious and come closer, ‘cause they’ll need to figure out if we are a danger to them or not….so, just be very quiet, boy, and you’ll see what I mean. And, what’s best, we won’t have bothered them at all…” (Al Hornsby Productions)
During his career of capturing many exotic creatures, Al Hornsby has gone diving with sharks, whales, and even crocodiles. Even with all these encounters with predatory animals, he has never had a moment where the animal had injured him or threatened him. The only time he was in danger was when a boat had hit his head. This is because of what his father had taught him about allowing the animals to come to you. He wants his many encounters with wildlife to be an example to the rest of the world. To teach people that animals shouldn’t be seen as a threat, and to have respect for wildlife.
Both Andrea McDonald and Al Hornsby want to educate people so that we can all coexist with wildlife and that we should all work towards fixing the damage we have caused onto the Earth. Many aspects of nature are often misunderstood and seen as a threat to overcome. The message these two are trying to spread is becoming more and more significant as the state of Earth’s biodiversity falls apart due to our actions. The warming seas have a direct effect on Al Hornsby’s career. As the waters become warmer due to global warming, he’s noticing that the abundance of several species is fluctuating, causing other creatures that rely on them to also change. An example of this is coral bleaching. The rising temperatures of waters cause the algae on the coral to leave the coral tissue. Not only does coral bleaching ruin the beautiful scenes underwater, but they also cause the entire reef ecosystem to fall apart. The algae which grow on the coral are one of the main sources of food for many marine creatures living in the reefs. Without them, there will be less food, leading to a smaller abundance in marine creatures, which could eventually in the long term cause the entire ecosystem to collapse. Between 2014 and 2017, approximately 75% of the world’s coral had experienced enough heat stress to cause bleaching and 30% of the corals had experienced enough heat stress to entirely kill the coral. The lack of colourful reefs directly affects Al Hornsby’s career as an underwater photographer, but even worse than that, this could lead to the whole marine ecosystem to perish. This does not only affect people like Al Hornsby but everyone and everything else in the world.
The world is being damaged piece by piece, and we are the ones who are held accountable for it. But we are also the ones who need to make a difference. So why don’t we work towards making the world a place where all species can coexist.
Works Cited