Since I was six days old, my parents have taken me bird watching. I grew up in contact with nature.
What has the experience of birdwatching given you?
Everything, also a certain stability in my childhood. My mother has had many mental health problems, she is bipolar, from her first hospitalization to the diagnosis it took 25 years.
Very hard.
Yes, months in bed, inadequate medication, hospitalizations. Bird watching has helped us keep our feet on the ground and our eyes on the sky, the birds have been a complete lifesaver.
explain it to me
For my mother to recover from the manic-depressive episodes my father organized trips to see birds, this kept us together, I don’t know where we would be without that contact with nature.
How has your mother’s bipolarity affected you?
I grew up with her, I was used to it, but there was a moment of shock when my mother tried to kill herself and had to be forcibly committed. I was 9 years old, at that time we all grew apart.
Sad.
The responsibility of interning his wife was enormous for my father. Many nights he would cry himself to sleep, but he never gave up, and as soon as my mother left the hospital we went on a birding trip.
On?
We spent half a year in South America observing birds, amazing creatures. They helped me forget that I had ever been sad or that Dad had felt overcome.
In those woods he decided his future.
She was a child passionate about nature and wanted to share it with the rest of the world.
She created the blog Birdgirl at the age of 11.
Talking about birds was not particularly enjoyable at school, and writing about them on my blog allowed me to share this passion.
Did he succeed?
I have always had problems, other adult birders looked down on me and questioned me. If I had been a child they would have praised me by saying that I reminded them of them as children, but I was a strange case for them.
It is absurd, instead of fascinating.
When I made the jump to other networks like Twitter, at the age of 14, I received an avalanche of verbal abuse, and when I got involved in climate activism I was attacked because I am Muslim and of Bengali origin. I have spoken a lot about climate change and racism.
What do they have to do with it?
The people who cause climate change in both the UK and the US are not the ones who suffer the most from its effects, the people who live in developing countries or depressed areas do.
Did you create the oenagé Black2Nature for them at the age of 14?
Yes, I was saddened that there were children who couldn’t have the experience of meeting birds in nature, and those children tend to be the most disadvantaged in the UK.
Is the field classist?
In the UK the field is usually reserved for upper middle class people, so I decided to bring other children to have that experience. If they don’t know nature how can they protect it? Today I organize camps for them and various aids.
You grew up very quickly.
It’s true, I’ve lived life at a very fast pace. I have visited all the continents of the Earth in search of birds, but when I am among them they give me that much needed peace and tranquility. From my adult self I realize many things.
explain it to me
Black2Nature has a lot to do with my experience, with my mother’s issues. I know from my own experience that nature, and birdwatching in particular, can provide healing in times of crisis, and significantly improve our ability to cope.
He has spoken before world leaders.
I found it very irritating when I participated in the climate conferences of the United Nations to see that they had no commitment to tackle climate change while acknowledging that many people would die. They are short-termists.
What needs to be done for humanity to participate in the necessary change in mindset?
Strangely enough, people normalize climate catastrophes, there are quite a few floods in Bristol, but they have got used to it.
But you are not discouraged.
I don’t, but according to a survey in the UK 50% of people my age think that climate change is irreversible and they no longer put energy into fighting it, that’s why we need it, for our mental health and that of the planet, that people know and love nature.
