How social media is inspiring children to save the natural world

It's true that many young people stare at screens instead of being out in the wild - but others use technology to form a global community of conservationists

Six years ago, I wrote with a certain amount of sadness a rather gloomy report for the National Trust entitled Natural Childhood. It highlighted the barriers standing in the way of engaging young people with nature: primarily dangers from traffic, parental fears of "stranger danger", and a growing aversion to exposing children to any form of risk. I concluded that we faced the very real danger of a "lost generation", who might never engage with the natural world.

Young people were, and still are, we're told, disconnected from nature, staring at screens when they should be out in the wild. But what I hadn't predicted back then is that it is these screens that are now enabling our children to join forces to save the natural world. The rise of new technology - especially social media - has allowed a new generation to connect with those who share their interests in a way that I never could have believed possible when I wrote Natural Childhood. As one young ornithologist recently told me: "I thought I was the only birder at my school, but on Facebook I found half a dozen others in my local area."

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