Human Nature

HUMAN NATURE PROJECTS Application for First Act Fund Support & Outline of Activities Human Nature Projects is a pioneer in community-driven conservation, connecting 1000 people from 100 countries globally to change public perspectives towards the natural world. Why is this necessary? 200 species are being lost every day. Half of all life has disappeared since man set foot on the moon. 80% of the one trillion lifeforms on Earth will go extinct unless further measures are taken, threatening 40% of the global GDP. But even worse than that, the solutions to all of this exist- they're there, just waiting to be activated. It's the apathy, the negligence of our collective consciousness,... read more HUMAN NATURE PROJECTS Application for First Act Fund Support & Outline of Activities Human Nature Projects is a pioneer in community-driven conservation, connecting 1000 people from 100 countries globally to change public perspectives towards the natural world. Why is this necessary? 200 species are being lost every day. Half of all life has disappeared since man set foot on the moon. 80% of the one trillion lifeforms on Earth will go extinct unless further measures are taken, threatening 40% of the global GDP. But even worse than that, the solutions to all of this exist- they're there, just waiting to be activated. It's the apathy, the negligence of our collective consciousness, this elusive 'human nature' that drives us to such destruction. Melodrama aside, i've volunteered across some two dozen environmental charities in the past two years, so have a pretty good understanding of the landscape. In a word, it's barren: isolation, elitism, reclusivity, duplicated effort, resource shortages, duplicated effort and countless other maladies crippling our collective ability to drive the change we want and need. Zoologist-celebrity Mark Carwardine describes it as an 'overcrowded mishmash' of conservation groups, and he's not far from the mark. Since founding Human Nature Projects, I have heard my own story echoed hundreds of times by others globally, and it's simple: the priority is place on planet then people, neglecting the fact that change must be grown not forced. Volunteers are left feeling unsupported, unwanted and disconnected from the heart of the issues- their work is trivialized, damaging immensely the organizations themselves who so desperately need their help. It isn't even limited to personal interactions. These countless organizations struggling to stay afloat and have their voice heard do so alone, disconnected from those who could be their most valuable allies. Simply seeing these disparate efforts and networks combined would provide incalculable benefits to the field as a whole, with a single united front facing the greatest challenges of our time. Conservation receives barely 5% of all philanthropy, so the need is very much there for a revitalization of these ineffectual processes. By preaching outside the circles of 'converted' to facilitate cross-disciplinary engagement, forging ambitious partner networks and providing a voice to volunteers, Human Nature Projects acts as this catalyst. How does it all work in practice? Human Nature Projects is an international environmental NGO founded in June 2019, with the mission of uniting large public audiences under a single banner that acts as a thought leader to the field. In doing so, we promote ideals of participatory public engagement for existing organizations and connect smaller charities with the manpower support they require in our project launchpad. Modern society is slowly coming to the realization that environmental services underpin all human wants and needs, and that their rapid degradation touches all of us in no small way. Through our 100 national teams we formulate need-driven local grassroots actions, in conjunction with which our global working groups facilitate interest-based discussions, sharing of best practices and major international campaigns across all our 1000+ volunteers. Our partner network launching at the start of October will join the leaders of two dozen small NGOs for open-source idea sharing, cumulative impact building and improved connectivity across the field. Our focus is on neither people nor the planet exclusively yet takes a holistic viewpoint in targeting the broad intersection of the two. We are tapping into conservation's greatest and most unappreciated resource- namely, the power of community in the equation for restoring natural systems and maintaining them at a healthy equilibrium. All of the field's many shortcomings stem ultimately from this root: the resource shortages, media misrepresentation, mass ignorance, duplicated effort and isolation all originate from the inability of existing organizations to see the bigger picture of interconnectedness in the world at large and act upon it. We break down the echo-chamber of current operations under the status quo and replace it with a seed of an idea that in time will grow the change we need. Where to from here? With a current rate of growth at two dozen people joining every day, our supporter base can be reasonably expected to surpass 2,000 by the end of 2020 and continue to grow as we increase our outreach efficiency. By these means we shall become the greatest representative of the public's environmental interests and needs, acting as an entry-point for individuals into this otherwise inaccessible field and as a go-between for other organizations seeking the benefits of collaboration & community in their own initiatives. We are the start-up model that conservation in this globalized world needs, and with the help of our tireless following, we shall succeed. The following long-term goals are thus proposed: i. Attaining a global membership of 100,000 people in 150 countries by close of 2030, and all relevant checkpoints up to this. ii. Involvement of 100 partner organizations within one year of the network's launch (by October 2020), and subsequent productive activities. iii. Launch or contribution to a total of 100 projects annually as an average over our first ten years of operation. Having conducted applications for roles within our administrative structure two months previously, we now have a highly competent executive committee of a dozen members and national directors representing the majority of our countries. This dynamic leadership team meets twice monthly and coordinates on various platforms kindly provided by our technology partners at Microsoft, with additional capacities provided by Google and Canva's support of HNP. Our financials are rapidly coalescing into a solid backing, with several grant applications in late stages of progression and hopefully soon to be made to the charity. Our website is soon to launch its second iteration, and our Online Systems officers have developed a custom CRM platform for our purposes. All in all, progression is fast and accelerating, which makes the coming months and years all the more exciting! Who will benefit from your initiatives? Our community is about recognising and supporting individuals to become part of a larger whole, so we don't like to generalise. You could take the story of Justice Senkoto, our national director for Lesotho, who worked in human resources for the Lesotho Olympic Team but has always dreamed of pursuing his interests in conservation until, now, when he was given the chance. Or you could speak with our education officer Harold Buenvenida in the Philippines, who works tirelessly to deliver community and school workshops in his local area, bringing countless people joy as he pilots a programme we aim to deliver across the globe. There are so many amazing individuals out there who are only waiting for a chance to have their voice heard, and this is what we give them. Our founder Elliot spoke with the Senior Program Manager at Conservation International just last week, and was deeply moved to hear his own story of the struggles he had experienced in moving from IT to the world of conservation. Simply by granting everyone the opportunity to take responsibility for environmental protection, to have their voice heard within the field, we begin to take down the echo-chamber that confines the progress of this field. It will be no easy task, and we cannot do it alone. But an avalanche starts with just one stone, and with our impetus we have set this in motion. The question is: will you join us? Elliot Connor- Founder and CEO of Human Nature Projects https://humannatureprojects.org/