Global youth voices on Life Below Water and Life On Land
Artwork from top to bottom by: Ishani Choudhury & Gaurav Choudhury; Aleksej Smiljanic, Teodora Šešlija, Violeta Šešlija; Jennifer Uchechukwu Obiorah
Read Our Second Issue: Youth Perspectives on SDG14 and SDG15
Biodiversity Stewardship – Global Youth Perspectives
Guardians of the Sea: The Fight Against Ocean Pollution
Artwork by Freya Kotter By: Freya Kotter, 14, Austria The ocean is a wonderful place. It is home to a huge number of species and it is crucial that we protect our oceans. If we don’t, it could lead to extinction of many species and creatures that we have not discovered yet, and cause an…
Have We Taken Too Long in Taking Action to Fulfil SDG14?
By: Harry Langford Given that our planet’s oceans cover up 71% of the planet (National Geographic, 2023), protecting and shielding them from climate change should be our priority. Our actions and our neglect since the industrial revolution have drastically damaged our oceans, making it vital for us to act quickly and extensively to salvage the…
The Buzzes Behind Biodiversity: The Often Overlooked Role of Insects
Artwork by Varvara Tretiakova By: Raiyan Bakshi, 17, US Insects… Pesky rashes, annoying buzz, disease vectors, overall nuisance. We usually don’t think of their tireless pollination, waste decomposition, and many other natural processes they facilitate. The truth is insects, as pesky as they may be, are crucial for life on earth. We see them in…
Can the New BNG Policy Improve ‘Life on Land’ in the UK?
By: Rowena Shivam, 18, UK ‘Halt biodiversity loss’ is a crucial part of Sustainable Development Goal 15. Globally, over 1 million animal and plant species are facing extinction (United Nations, 2019). The United Kingdom has the lowest level of biodiversity in the G7 but also one of the worst housing crises (House of Commons Environmental…
Drawing for Wildlife
Drawing by Ayan Kamath Mehra By: Ayan Kamath Mehra, India/Singapore Qualia – coined by philosopher C. I. Lewis – refers to ‘instances of subjective, conscious experience’. For example, running your fingers through cold water, the experience of seeing the colour purple, and the struggle of lifting a new PR (personal record in lifting). These moments…
From Soil to Sky: The Rich Tapestry of Life on Land
Artwork by Aida Mugutdinova By: Mahesh Mandavelli, 15, India/Poland Did you know that the Earth experienced its warmest day in recorded history on July 22, 2024 with a global average temperature of 17.16°C (Copernicus Climate Change, 2024, July 25)? Annually, around one-third of the Earth’s geographical area is at risk of desertification (“The World Counts”,…
Stop the Cause, Be the Change.
Photograph by Deborah Thankam Ciju By: Deborah Thankam Ciju, 14, India Ever since I was a child, I’ve been taught that littering is a major no-no. But when I look around my city, all I see are heaps and piles of trash everywhere. Witnessing the devastating floods and landslides in Wayanad, Kerala, where waste-clogged rivers…
Echoes from the Deep
Artwork by Clayden Botes By: Advika Gupta, 14, India/UAE Growing up in Mumbai, the Arabian Sea was more than just a backdrop to my life; it was a part of who I was. Family outings to Juhu Beach, school trips exploring coastal biodiversity—it all ingrained in me a deep love for the ocean. But in…
Water
Artwork by Xiu Chen By: Disha Balu, 17, UK Will there be life below water when I grow up? I swam recently, in the sun-soaked seas of the Mediterranean. With poor eyesight, I could make out the shoals of shimmering forms that weaved in between my limbs, evaporating into the depths below my kicking feet…
Seeking the New Aristotle
By Peter Wales, 15, England Around 340BC, Greek philosopher and Polymath Aristotle discovered the Earth to be in fact spherical, not flat as was the common opinion of the day (Greek evidence for the Earth’s shape and spin, 2024). This however, did not keep him from a newfound idea that Earth, of ‘high mass’ was…
Protecting our Fenlands: A Short History of East Anglia Biodiversity Ravages, Resistance and Rewilding
Artwork by: Nico Cordonier-Gehring By: Nico Cordonier-Gehring, Canada/Germany/Switzerland/UK Introduction The cultural, economic, and political history of the Fenlands, including my Cambridgeshire home in East Anglia, offer an inspiring tale of biodiversity ravages, resistance and rewildings. Across nearly 1,500 square miles of southeastern Lincolnshire, most of Cambridgeshire including parts of historic Huntingdonshire, and the westernmost parts…
Time Due Now
Photograph by Calixtro Vega Valenzuela By: Emily Viruez Viruez, 18, Bolivia I feel this sense of loss whenever I think about the woods my mother and I used to go to every weekend; how her free-spirited soul would always be so at ease with the towering trees, endless green. We would walk around those vibrant,…
Bring Back Biodiversity and Save the Planet
Artwork by Moses Agumba By: Joy Ubani, 15, Nigeria My name is Joy Ubani, I am 15 years old and I live with my parents and siblings in a city in Nigeria. I am passionate about environmental sustainability and nature conservation. Growing up, it was always fun visiting my village. The beauty of visiting my…
Take Care of Our Forests
Artwork by Lasya Hota By: Sydnee Nisyok Being taught that our lands are sacred, and everything living on our lands is to only be taken as needed and necessary is difficult to comprehend when our land continues to be logged. Living in a remote Indigenous community it is noticeable when we have areas of our…
How Often Do You Really Think About Food?
By: Inaya Danish, 14, India How often do you really think about food? I don’t mean just the new Mexican spot down the road or the classic what’s-for-lunch. I’m talking about the essential question we never knew we had — what goes into making our food? Although we don’t think about it much, what we…
Whispers of Giants: Adventure in the Ningaloo Reef
By: Ryan Hill, Canada It was 6:00 a.m. when I was woken up by a beautiful bird song. I quickly jumped out of bed to look out my window to see if I could catch a glimpse of the bird with the enchanting call. To my eyes’ amazement I saw three birds with an array…
Apocalyptic Cloud: Bolivia’s Ecological Crisis and Constitutional Reform
By: Carlos Andrés Olivera Caballero, Bolivia Sitting here at my desk, the sun is nowhere to be seen. This should be a bright, clear morning in Santa Cruz, America’s purest sky, but thanks to these thick, omnipresent, smoke clouds, the morning’s been transformed into an apocalyptic scene. The smoke-filled air is so thick that from…
Description of Santiago
By: Valentina Isabel Fernandez Weissmann, 14, Chile The large city of Santiago de Chile lies beneath the translucent, pale gray and brown breath of pollution, suffocating to all; important to none, as the coal continues burning in people’s homes. This city was nurtured by mother nature, who, with a smile, brought an eternal sunlight in,…
Born Free
By: Rehema Kibugi, Kenya Born free you are, uncontrollable and wild. Not to be stuck in the shackles of false destiny. Free to exist, to live. To dance in the wind, to feel the sunlight, smell the damp soil moistened by the rain, and hear the birds sing their sweet song. You live your life…
Beacons of Hope
By: Saira Thomas, UAE Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the countless environmental issues we face, like trying to outrun an avalanche? When you see images of sea animals tangled in plastic waste, their fragile bodies pierced by our pollution, have you felt helpless? Have you ever longed for a sign, a reassurance that if…
Nature and Children’s Rights – Child Voices
Biodiversity in Crisis: Liberating Marine Life
Artwork by Lasya Priya Manala By: Shubhi Batra, 11, India Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14), titled “Life Below Water,” focuses on conserving and sustainably using theoceans, seas, and marine resources. Oceans cover over 70%of the Earth’s surface and are critical to sustaining life on theplanet. They regulate the climate, provide food and livelihoodsfor billions…
Empowering Youth to Protect and Preserve Life Below Water
Artwork by Adeena Asif Mukadam By: Adeena Asif Mukadam, 13, UAE SDG Goal 14, “Life Below Water,” is about taking care of our oceans and seas. As a 13-year-old student from Year 8 at GEMS Cambridge School in Sharjah, UAE, I have seen firsthand how important it is to protect our oceans. I have been…
Earth: The Sea-Life
Artwork by Maximus Sanchez Francis By Liyah Emeson, 13, UK The SDG 14 (Sustainable Development Goal 14) is about ‘Life under Water’. The goal is “to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.” In other words, this means that they aim to protect water bodies and to use marine…
What I Like the Most About Life on Land
By: Chama Ntabeni Chilubanama, 8, Zambia As an 8-year-old boy in sunny Lusaka, Zambia, I like the fact that we normally have the perfect weather and we can take care of plants and animals. We can do more to make our environment clean and beautiful, and so we can remain healthy. They say, cleanliness is…
Acknowledging Land and Life
By: Acacia Leonor Greenidge, 11, Canada/Trinidad&Tobago I have a question for you. And I have an idea too. I love the lake. It’s stunningly beautiful here at Sauble Beach, and the water shimmers in the sunlight. The waves amaze, and the sunsets seem unreal, just like when you stop using the computer and it changes…
Maasai are the Guardians of Life on Earth
By Naipanoi Onesmo Olengurumwa, 11, Tanzania My father and my grandfather grew up in the middle of an ecological system living with animals and nature. Yes, we coexist with animals and nature. Let’s use this indigenous knowledge to protect the Serengeti/Loliondo and Ngorongoro ecosystem and all the lives on it. Yes, we are the best implementers…
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Marine Life
Artwork by Aqif Shairazee Abdul Rashid bin Othman By: Deepesh Ayyapparaj, 12, India Imagine a world where the ocean’s majesty is diminished, its vibrancy dulled, and its songs silenced. This is the reality we face if we don’t act to protect our planet’s marine life. This is the alarming reality we face today, a mystery…
A Roughtail Stingray in Cuba
Artwork by Nicolas Patrick Oppman By: Nicolas Patrick Oppman, 10, Panama/US Hello, my name is Nico, I’m 10 years old, I live in Havana, Cuba, and I’m starting grade five. Last weekend I went to a beach in Cuba called Playa Larga for a last summer weekend outing and I saw something horrible! So I…
Harmony Online Journal - Youth Voices on Science, Law and Sustainability 