STATS & STORIES Storytelling for Biodiversity Southeast Asia & beyond PUBLISHER ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity 3/F ERDB Building, Forestry Campus University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines www.aseanbiodiversity.org © 2014 ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity ISBN: The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is ASEAN’s response to the challenge of biodiversity loss. It is an intergovernmental organization that facilitates cooperation and coordination among the ten ASEAN Member States and with regional and international organizations on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of such natural treasures. WITH SUPPORT FROM The Deutsche GesellschaftfürInternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, is a non-profit cooperation enterprise for sustainable development and operates in more than 130 countries worldwide. Most of the activities are commissioned by the German Government. GIZ works closely with the public and private sector as well as civil societies to carry out results-oriented international cooperation. Its considerable experience with alliances in partner countries is a key factor for successful projects. Since September 2010, GIZ through the Biodiversity and Climate Change Project (BCCP), has been supporting the institutionalization of ACB’s core program on biodiversity and its nexus with climate change, contributing to an ASEAN-wide strategy. www.giz.de AUTHOR: Philipp Gassner ‘GreenChallenge Accepted - Interface expert for the strategic communication of sustainability - beyond the ivory tower’ Green: Call Philipp a resourceful, enthusiastic and conscientious interface expert with a passion for knowledge, people and the environment. Challenge: He’s dedicated to get the science of sustainability across interfaces. On his mission he combines • Content as cross-disciplinary environmental scientist with • Method from science communication, knowledge and project management, and consultancy. Accepted: Philipp frees science and sustainability from the green ivory tower: He turns data into drama, numbers into narrative, and stats into stories - translating knowledge into practice in order to change institutions. GreenChallengeAccepted.org @GrnChllngAccptd facebook.com/GreenFoTainment linkedin.com/in/PhilippGassner EDITORS: Dr. Monina T. Uriarte, Mr. Rolando A. Inciong, Ms. Leslie Ann V. Jose, Ms. Agnes R. Pantastico LAYOUT: Mr. Nanie Gonzales, Mr. Eisen Bernard V. Bernardo DISCLAIMER: This publication may be reproduced for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission, provided acknowledgement to the source is made. The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of ACB or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or contributory organizations. The designations employed and the presentations do not imply the expressions of any option whatsoever on the parts of ACB or contributory organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area and its authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. For all correspondence relating to this report, please contact: [email protected] Foreword he Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which entered Tinto force on 29 December 1993, has three objectives: the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. The Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in 2010 adopted the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, together with the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Aichi Target No. 1 states that: ‘By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably’. The challenge to meet the first target is to increase public awareness on the importance of biodiversity. In this context, the CBD promotes awareness raising for biodiversity issues and concerns. The International Day for Biological Diversity, every 22nd day of May, and the UN Decade on Biodiversity, are but two examples of these efforts. People always like to listen to a good story. Storytelling has the power to engage and move people. Biodiversity facts and figures, when presented in story form, can be easily understood. This publication, Stats & Stories – Storytelling for Biodiversity Southeast Asia & Beyond, is a unique attempt to tell stories about biodiversity. It hopes to contribute to the promotion of biodiversity conservation using simple and clear language. And what better way to start with ‘once upon a time’. Mr. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias Executive Secretary CBD Stats and Stories – Storytelling for Biodiversity iii Message iodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life.” This was the “Bmessage for the International Year of Biodiversity (2010). Whose life? “Biodiversity” as a concept is not relevant to most people and perhaps never will be. So, how could we ever promote biodiversity and its conservation in our societies, develop concepts for the sustainable use of biodiversity elements, and incorporate the value of biodiversity and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits in concepts of green and sustainable economies? People do relate to biodiversity and its conservation if the concepts are referred and translated to “my life”, “my job”‚ “my health”, or “my future”. Translation is communication. Communication is naming things by a name, it’s storytelling, among others. It’s both pre-requisite and a tool for change. Communication prepares the fertile ground for information exchange, consensus among divergent opinions, know- how and decision making. But there is no shortcut between ‘Said’ and ‘Done’. Said is not yet heard... Heard is not yet understood... Understood is not yet approved... and Approved is not yet done! Recognizing this, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) provides a plan to fill the gap between ‘Said’ and ‘Done’. Its over arching framework, the Strategic Plan, is for all to engage in biodiversity management and policy development. It underlines the importance of biodiversity for Mankind as well as the steps towards a sustainable future for upcoming generations. On its journey to a sustainable future, the CBD is supported by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity in translating and promoting sustainability and biodiversity in the ASEAN region, striving for a unified response to the challenges ahead. This publication aims at decoding and demystifying Biodiversity, this web we call life. This publication intends to show the reader the full range of what biodiversity is, what biodiversity means and how important biodiversity is in the lives of our ancestors, of ourselves, and for the future of our children. These press articles represent a collection of stories about” my life”, “my job”‚ “my health”, or “my future” unfolding the amplitude of Biodiversity - stories which will continue to unfold through time. Forever. Dr. Berthold Seibert Project Manager GIZ Biodiversity and Climate Change Project iv Stats and Stories – Storytelling for Biodiversity Once upon a time... Communicating Biodiversity reen is the new pink. Sustainability is en vogue. real behavior change, we must turn data into drama, And quite rightly so. Illustrations come by numbers into narrative, and stats into stories. Gthe bookful. Take climate change, pollution, the sixth global mass extinction, land degradation, WHAT’S A BIODIVERSITY STORY? and threats to food security. You name it, we have it. The world is hitting the environmental buffers. This is A story is a narrative account of an event, with a key more and more jeopardizing meaningful development, element of truth, even if it is fiction. The protagonist’s with Southeast Asia’s dwindling treasure chest of tale, let’s say a lazy lemur’s life, might be imagined, biodiversity at the forefront. However, simply gazing the destruction of his habitat is real. Stories grab us at these symptoms will leave us stumped for an answer because they add emotion, characters and detail to – numerous global efforts don’t bear fruit. Also, the bare facts. Stories are as old as language and our brains Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the key are built to learn from stories, as we have done over agreement on sustainable development, faces many thousands of generations. Stories capture our attention barriers. Instead, green ideas have to drill down on the and create empathy as well as help us understand and root causes. In a nutshell, we are currently not living off remember message. Stories work for big business, as of our ecological annual interest, but drawing down the the equity story of the Islamic Bank, London shows, accumulated natural capital, leaving future generations which doubled the business’ value to 200 million British with a huge debt. Us humans, we are both the problem pounds1. So why shouldn’t it work for conservation, too? and the solution for sustainable development. That’s what the International Union for Conservation And we simply are not moved to action by data of Nature (IUCN) thought, which now tells stories of dumps - à la 350 ppm [CO2], N (animals, critically Love. Not Loss.2 endangered)=3079 or 36.9 ha/min deforested. Instead, But neither love nor a message without a storyteller. human knowledge is based on emotional stories. People Storytelling engages an audience and conveys its message are storytelling organisms that lead storied lives. All as entertaining as possible. Storytellers