AFON
AFON in 2016
In 2016 A Focus On Nature has taken major leaps forward, asserting itself as a nationally recognised and respected youth conservation organisation. We launched the hugely ambitious Vision for Nature Report, organised numerous events, grew our membership and mentoring programme and have reached out to hundreds more young people through our social media channels. In this round up of the year, committee member Ben Eagle looks back on our achievements.
I’ll try not to overly use ‘the B word’ in this round up of 2016 for A Focus On Nature but clearly, Brexit has dominated discussions this year and will continue to make the headlines in 2017. I will never forget driving down to Exmoor the morning after the referendum result was announced, trying not to veer off the road as one political car crash after another was announced through the radio. We are told time and time again that we live in an age of ‘post truth politics’, disconnected from detail and instead swayed by emotional appeal. The campaigns on both sides of the Brexit referendum were part of this ‘new’ political framework. It is fairly clear that when it comes to the natural world, conservationists will face an uphill battle in 2017, making the case for conservation in the midst of the noise of more populist topics such as immigration. However, it is more important than ever that we make our case and that young people especially raise their voices, encouraging policy makers to take note of our own ‘vision for nature’, which was established through the fantastic report that AFON published in July.
Before we talk of Vision for Nature however, let’s return to the beginning of 2016, before the passing of David Bowie, Alan Rickman and Terry Wogan (so many celebrity deaths this year!).
The year began optimistically for AFON with a week of blog post from seven members outlining their plans for the year, organised by our superbly dedicated On line and Social Media Manager Megan Shersby. I really enjoyed reading them. Often when you hear of other people’s plans it spurs you on to make your own.
Look out for seven more blog posts to start 2017!
The turning of a new year is often a good time for reflection, when we are able to take a few steps back and put some thought to where we have come from, where we are going and what we might do differently. It’s also a good time to make plans for the year. Perhaps there are certain species you want to see this year, places you wish to travel to, new skills you want to learn. For a naturalist there are constantly things you could improve upon. Certainly, personally speaking, 2017 will be a year I strive to improve my ID skills across a range of taxa, and spend less time in front of my computer screen! As a writer, it’s a difficult balance to achieve, but as we all know, the best times are to be had in the outdoors and the more time we can spend outside, the better.
On New Year’s Day itself, Matt Collis organised a ‘Bird Race’ for AFON members, which was won by James Common and Sacha Elliot who managed to spot 88 species. Well done to everyone who took part in this.
AFON’s social media reach has grown brilliantly this year. On 8th January we passed the 1500 member mark on the Facebook group and at the close of the year this now stands at well over 1800. The Facebook page now has over 1500 likes. On Twitter, AFON is storming ahead with almost 4800 followers. Megan Shersby has also taken us into the realms of Instagram this year and we are also planning to reignite our LinkedIn group.
Sticking with AFON’s online presence, there have been some super posts on the blog this year, ranging from opinion pieces to more conventional natural history writing, quite a few book reviews and several series of posts. Most recently there was the glorious Advent series in which people were asked to write about somebody who has inspired them and to link that inspiration to what they are doing now. I have really enjoyed reading them and have regularly found myself smiling at the choices of some writers. A few of the ‘inspirational figures’ have included Beatrix Potter (from Tiffany Francis), Gerald Durrell (from Ben Porter and Harry Witts), a splendid post on Donald Trump(!) (from Jack Bedford), family figures including grandparents and parents (from Georgia Locock and James Common) and even our very own Lucy McRobert (from Megan Shersby).
We should pause when mentioning Lucy because, very sadly but fully understandably, she stepped down from her role as Creative Director of the organisation in the summer. Lucy has led AFON since its formation in 2011 and was a key figure in its foundation. Her enthusiasm and drive were critical to getting AFON into the confident place we find ourselves in now, proudly able to identify as the largest youth conservation network in the United Kingdom. In the summer issue of the newsletter committee members, myself included, paid tribute to Lucy’s hard work through the years. We all wish her the absolute best for her future career and have told her to stay in touch (although I’m not that she needs to be told)! We look forward to welcoming a new Creative Director very soon to take AFON forward in the new year.
Back in January 2016 AFON welcomed three new committee members to its leadership team, including myself (as Administrator), Ettie Shattock (as Mentoring Coordinator) and Ryan Clark (as Membership Coordinator). It has been a real privilege to serve on the committee so far and I look forward to another couple of exciting years ahead, helping to shape the direction that the organisation takes moving forward, meeting more members, organising and attending events and generally making the most of our super network of passionate young naturalists. Ryan and Ettie have been real troopers this year. Our formal membership (who have access to our mentoring scheme among other benefits – see ‘how do I join’ if you are not already a member and would like to be) has rocketed this year thanks to Ryan and Ettie has worked on expanding the mentoring programme and working on its diversity. It has been a joy to work alongside both of them (and other members of the committee of course!). I want to thank all of the committee for the time they give to AFON (it does feel like a full time job at times!) and for their infectious enthusiasm and determination. You are all brilliant!
Anyway, back to what has been happening this year…
AFON has been represented at a number of national events this year, including the National Moth Recorders Meeting which took place in Birmingham back in January. At this particular event, four representatives from AFON, including Simon Phelps, Megan Shersby, Laura Richardson and Ben Porter, spoke about our work, the importance of having mentors for young naturalists and the University Moth Challenge. You can read more about the meeting in this blog post.
The highlight of the year for many AFON folk is the Birdfair, held annually in late summer on the edges of Rutland Water. Projects Officer Beth Aucott organised an AFON mural tent which was very popular with children at the fair and has become a bit of an AFON tradition. Another tradition – the group photograph was taken at the end of the first day, a chance for AFON folk to meet face to face, sometimes for the first time. It is great to see how friendships can be formed over social media. When you eventually meet face to face you feel that you already know each-other quite well. This is a brilliant aspect of the AFON network. The photograph showed yet again a rise in the number of young people attending – roll on Birdfair 2017!
AFON at Birdfair 2016. Credit: Stephen Moss
Our members have gone from strength to strength in 2016 and we have loved hearing about the projects that they all get up to. These have included several AFON members publishing work in Melissa Harrison’s Seasons series of books, audio projects springing to life, such as Matt Williams’s Wild Voices Project, events including Mya-Rose Craig’s Race Equality in Nature conference, held in Bristol back in June and of course the myriad of blog posts from many of our literary members. Keep up the good work!
It was a particularly busy summer for AFON with a number of events held, such as the weekend event at the Knepp Estate in July (many thanks for organising it Simon Phelps!). 30 AFONers flocked to the Weald in Sussex to take part in a couple of days of wildlife wonder, to learn about the particular form of rewilding that has been spearheaded on the estate by Charlie Burrell, to improve ID skills, take photographs and strengthen friendships.
The Knepp weekend was followed not long after by an ‘Introduction to Insects’ workshop, which took place in Northamptonshire. The event was organised by Megan Shersby and many of the sessions were led by AFON members, including Ryan Clark and Alice Hunter. Huge thanks must go to the Wildlife Trust of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire for the use of their field station and equipment, as well as to their CEO Brian Eversham, Butterfly Conservation’s Tony Davis and NHM’s Erica McAlister for leading workshops and being so supportive.
Later in the month, on 25th July, AFON published its long awaited Vision for Nature report, which had been over a year in the pipeline. This was a real success story for AFON and a sign and signal of its coming of age as an organisation. It was a landmark piece of work which collected the views of over 200 young people about the future of the natural world. Many more than this were indirectly involved through social media and face to face engagement. Media coverage of the report was beyond our hopes and articles could be found in the Guardian, Green Alliance, Daily Mail, Huffington Post, Newmarket Journal, Yorkshire Post, Countryfile Magazine and BBC Wildlife Magazine. The #visionfornature hashtag trended on twitter for much of the launch day. For me, as someone who was part of the team responsible for writing the report, it was a real success because of the diversity of media that were included within its pages. Suggested policies were joined by pieces of creative writing and illustrations that really made the document a collective effort and testimony to what AFON really stands for – all skills and interests have a role to play in safeguarding and celebrating the natural world. A huge amount of thanks and applause should go to Matt Williams, AFON’s Associate Director and lead editor of the report for spearheading the campaign in the first place. Vision for Nature was certainly a highlight of the year, a gem of positivity at a time which for many of us was very difficult in the light of Brexit (sorry, I know I wasn’t meant to mention it again).
Another success story for AFON in 2016 has been the drawing up of a new University Mammal Challenge, which AFON is organising in partnership with the Mammal Society. The competition has already attracted an incredible 54 teams and will run from January to June next year. Good luck if you are taking part and many thanks to Pete Cooper for taking this forward.
With Vision for Nature now backing down (although we remain determined to keep the report in the limelight in 2017 – please continue to remind your MPs about it!) AFON is moving forward with its new campaign – Now for Nature, which has been quietly introduced as the year comes to a close. Now for Nature will highlight the work of young people who are already doing amazing things to improve the state of nature. It is intended as a very positive campaign at a time when the world (and young people) really needs to hear some good news. The exciting thing about Now for Nature is that it isn’t restricted to the UK but will involve working with young people across the world. One of AFON’s great achievements in 2016, principally thanks to Matt Williams, has been to reach out to similar sister groups across the world, including AcroTerra in Mexico, CoalitionWILD in the USA, Emerging Leaders for Biodiversity in Canada and other groups across Europe. AFON aims to consolidate these friendships next year. After all, it is only by working together that we will be able to forge positive global action in the future. The Now for Nature campaign is already online and you can find it through the #NowforNature on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
I haven’t been able to mention all of AFON’s activities above but I hope you have been able to get a good flavour of the exciting things that have been happening. It has been yet another brilliant year for what is still a very young organisation. We now stand on the edge of a new dawn and look forward to welcoming our new Creative Director in January. It will be up to them to lead our super committee in taking the network forward and I know there are already some very exciting plans for 2017.
It is impossible to know what the future will bring but one thing is for sure. By coming together and supporting each other that future will be all the more enjoyable and easier to get through. For those of us working in or aspiring to have a career in the broad conservation sector we all know it isn’t an easy path. There are difficult days, often many of them. However, what can keep us going is the knowledge that there are hundreds of people similar to us who are passionate and supportive. We all want each other to succeed. Let’s make 2017 a great one and I for one can’t wait to see how you all progress and the brilliant projects and challenges you set yourselves. Good luck and if you haven’t already, throw yourself into the opportunities that AFON can provide – apply for the mentoring scheme, attend an event, write a blog post for us. Whatever your interest, we can probably find something that will help you in your conservation journey.
Happy New Year!
Ben
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