Youth Conservation in Action 

What does it look like to be a youth conservation hero? The word “conservation” may make you think about traveling to new places and participating in hands-on projects, but conservation can also mean efforts taken right here at home. Our Volunteens (ages 14-17) study conservation information about our animal species throughout the year, including current threats to the species, efforts to mitigate those threats, and actions that guests can take right from home to help. The teens then share this information with guests at animal habitats or during events. Perhaps you’ve even come across them in action! 

Additionally, now through December, a group of our Volunteens are hard at work developing and implementing their own at-home conservation projects. These range from building pollinator gardens in their schools, to growing support for Georgia mountain bog habitat restoration through social media campaigns, to helping protect elephants by creating posters about ivory alternatives, and more. The next time you’re at the Zoo, look for the teens in the red Zoo Atlanta shirts, and be sure to ask them to share their conservation knowledge with you! 

If you are interested in learning more about the Volunteen program, please check out our website here: https://zooatlanta.org/program/volunteen-program/ or email teenvolunteer@zooatlanta.org. We will be hosting Preview Nights on November 13 and December 12 (registration is required for attendance, and teens must attend with an adult). We will be opening for applications for the 2022-2023 program year in January 2022.