Wildlife Protection

The project “Wildlife Protection” is tailored at promoting the respect of the environment, explore the valuable examples of natural preservation with an eye on national parks and natural reserves, foster a sustainable way of living and make participants aware of their central role in the environmental changes and wildlife protection.

Saving nature and preserving biodiversity is one of the next century main goals.
As the “Living Planet Report” has found out recently, over the last 40 years wildlife populations of vertebrate species - mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish - have declined by 52%, and the impacts are far beyond what we can imagine.
Human activities have been largely responsible of this sudden loss, mostly due to severe interventions of local habitats.
In fact, some of those animals at risk are an integral part of the local culture, iconic species like rhinos, tigers and whales whose loss will be a great damage to culture too.
Not to mention the several species not yet discovered that get lost due to deforestation and land human settlement of the territory, that has reached on a world level the worrying percentage of XXX.

Luckily, there are several good examples to take inspiration from, like the WWF who has been part of several successful wildlife recovery stories, ranging from southern Africa’s black rhino to black bucks in the Himalayas.
To a lesser extent, national parks and reserves play a fundamental role in wildlife protection since they can act in two ways:
Preserve the local biodiversity and its original habitat as well as constantly monitor flora and fauna health status;
Promote local biodiversity as a cultural strength to the local community and sensitize new generations to the importance of natural conservation;
Advocate for the benefit of local habitat and wildlife.
The good news is that, in the last two decades, many new protected areas have been established. Areas that are nominally strictly protected span nearly 7% of all tropical forests globally, and the figure approaches 13% if multiple-use reserves are included.
However, natural reserves aren’t perfect: for instance, exotic weeds and disturbance-loving plants are increasing in many of them, but on average they’re doing respectably.

That is why “Wildlife Protection” was conceived, a project consisting of a Youth Exchange to rediscover the often-neglected gems of biodiversity our local territories still have and think about possible innovations and threats. Thanks to the YE a bunch of volunteers will get to know how the reality of natural habitats protection and, through the youth exchange, they will be proactively learning and sharing their experiences with other youngsters, while going through a detailed training.
Only if new generations feel a proper sense of belonging to the national parks of their countries, it will be possible to support and advocate for their existence in the future and properly respond to the threats the continuous urban expansion is posing to them.
Over the years most of protected zones have lost at least some of their surrounding forest cover, whereas just 2% have gained surrounding forest. Human populations have grown sharply near many protected areas, ratcheting up environmental pressures. In some places, farmers and loggers are marching right up to the borders of reserves.
We need protected areas to be as big as possible, because bigger reserves are inherently more resistant to outside threats. We also need buffer zones around reserves, to help shield them from hostile surrounding land-uses. And we must stop reserves from becoming isolated wherever possible, by maintaining substantial reserve connectivity to other forested areas.

The main elements discussed will be:
fostering a sustainable way of living;
advocating and lobbying for natural habitats preservation;
empowering young people to develop a environmental mindset;
introducing youngsters to the preservation and support of natural parks;
exploring the threats natural reserves may face and will be facing in the future;
thinking about possible innovations and best practices that could help natural parks perform better.

This youth exchange will be the occasion to pass the floor to the youngsters involved, so that their knowledge acquired during the youth exchange will be a starting point to be involved in the preservation of their local environment and in the promotion and lobbying for the benefit of natural parks worldwide.