Conservation has always been about people, even when the people were not visible. Environmental movements might have better protected nature if they had long sought to conserve cultures and communities along with land. Earning the trust now of people who have inherited wisdom for living in balance with nature will give conservation a fighting chance on a warming planet. It might also offer a reprieve from focusing on the dire future to reach for solutions that lie deep in the past.

Bina Venkataraman

The Empathetic Museum. [@empatheticmuseum] (December 3, 2023). “From @allwecansave @washingtonpost” [Image]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/empatheticmuseum/p/C0ZssUYv7bq/