Bird-watching’s wide appeal and social justice impact

Wildlife biologist and ornithologist Corina Newsome of the U.S. NGO National Wildlife Federation joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how bird-watching plays a role in environmental justice for underserved communities in urban areas, and provides an accessible way for people to connect with nature and drives impactful change.

“Birding is an opportunity [for] people to fill in data gaps where they live [to] help direct investments that come from the world of conservation … from federal to state to local levels that have usually been funneled away from their communities,” she says on this episode.

Newsome says that birding changed her own life, and she’s hopeful it can also change the world, because bird health has direct implications for biodiversity health at large. “ What birds require of us will benefit us in ways that are far beyond bird conservation. We can work together to solve problems and think about the ecological emergency and environmental harms are taking place across landscapes, across boundaries,” she says.

Find the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify. All past episodes are also listed here at the Mongabay website.

Thumbnail image: American Avocet. Image by Michael Barry via Pixabay (Pixabay Content License).

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Timecodes

(00:00) Corina Newsome: Wildlife biologist and ornithologist

(04:08) Birding changes your life

(14:21) Birding, environmental and social justice

(26:48) Birds as symbols of hope and resilience