“Mya-Rose Craig tells the story of how she set up Black2Nature to help give young people in visible minority ethnic communities access to nature and tackle the lack of diversity in green spaces. She also talks about the climate emergency and the need for more urgent action.”
Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At age 11 I started the popular blog Birdgirl, and at age 17 I became the youngest person to see half of the birds in the world.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Panel Interview for Rob Hopkins at Transition Network
Panel Interview for Rob Hopkins at Transition Network In May 2020 I did a panel interview with Rob Hoskins and Sam Lee.
It was based on ‘From What If to What Next’ which asked listeners to send in their ‘What If’ questions about the future we can create going forward from now, and then Rob found myself and Sam to discuss it, to explore what in their mind the future would be like if that thing were to come to be, what the benefits would be, and how we might get there.
The first one was “What if the birdsong were so loud it drowned out the traffic?” which I was talking about.
These we some of the reviews people wrote afterwards: David wrote “As a bird lover, I enjoyed this podcast very much. One of the reasons why I joined XR is because I am so afraid that one day there will be no birdsong. I think that would lead me to die of a broken heart. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure about the continuous birdsong in the background, but I loved it. I didn’t distract or disturb you at all. It was beautiful. Thank you for this podcast and everything you do.”
Rodrigue wrote “Perfect podcast to take a break during this stressful era of coronavirus, and climate breakdown, and and and… This podcast does not hide from reality but glances with the most intense eyes to the not even hidden gems of it. I’m reading a lot about the climate situation, leading to an emotional roller-coaster. When I’m at the bottom, I usually take a shot of Rob’s work to restore a bit of joy and hope. So, thank you for that :)”.
Keith wrote “I very much enjoyed this podcast. I must admit that at first glance I felt there were more pressing topics to discuss. But having just listened to your panel, I realized that birdsong is a universal signal of lush ecosystems. I have had numerous discussions with friends and Neighbours about how nice it has been to have clean air and quiet streets where birdsong seems to magically have returned during this lockdown. A very poignant topic and very well-timed. Cheers!”.
Jessica wrote, “Loved it: exactly what I needed to listen to today. I closed my eyes and imagined what my town would be like if bird song drowned out the traffic and it brought a huge smile to my face. Thank you :)”.
Greta wrote “Beautiful, thank you Rob. Mya’s work engaging young BME people is so important and inspiring and Sam’s description of nightingale song and sitting around a campfire sounds so appealing right now as I stand washing dishes in a suburban flat with a view of next door’s wall! I love the line at the end, equating getting to know nature as being like growing old with a lover. Great first podcast!” are urged to ‘leave it wild’ for International Biodiversity Day – Friday 22 May 2020.
About The Author
Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At age 11 I started the popular blog Birdgirl, and at age 17 I became the youngest person to see half of the birds in the world.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour – a young female environmentalist
BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour is an iconic radio programme listened to by huge numbers of women. I recently had a friend’s mum e-mail to say that I had been mentioned on the programme as an environmentalist to watch. I am feeling so pleased and proud!
Thank you to Marianne Brown, Editor of Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine and a Twitter follower.
Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At age 11 I started the popular blog Birdgirl, and at age 17 I became the youngest person to see half of the birds in the world.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Birdwatch Magazine’s Birder’s Choice Awards are the most prestigious in the UK.
Back in 2015 I was nominated for the Blogger of the Year Awards and came second to the high profile conservationist (and ex-senior staff at the RSPB) I was really pleased with that, especially as it was only my second year of blogging and I was still only 13 years old.
I was therefore stunned to be included in the 2019 award nominations in the Conservationist of the Year category. This is the most high profile category and was won by Chris Packham last year. This year was me with Greta Tunberg, Sir David Attenborough and George Monbiot. It was incredible to be listed with these amazing people and I was beyond excited and proud. I didn’t even know until someone tweeted me to say good luck and remind everyone that I was the only birder out of these three. I didn’t think that mattered, they had done fantastic work.
I was nominated for my diversity campaigning which was really important to me as it meant that the message had got across that this was not something that was a side issue, it was central to conservation as we would never get a sustainable planet without everyone on board.
I didn’t expect anyone to vote for me and to ask seemed rude and inappropriate, taking into account who I was up against.
1. Conservation Hero of the Year Mya-Rose Craig known as Birdgirl, this 17-year-old activist and naturalist has been campaigning for more diversity in birding, organising nature camps for teenagers
The results came out in January 2020. I hadn’t asked anyone to vote for me but I think some of my following in Bangladesh might have voted for me. As predicted and deserved, Greta Thunberg won the Conservationist of the year category but I was done as well as Sir David Attenborough. “There really was only going to be one winner this year. While both David Attenborough and Mya-Rose Craig put up a good fight, Greta Thunberg took the honours with more than a third of the votes”.
Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I really appreciate your support especially as I have lots of birder trolls on social media.
About The Author
Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At age 11 I started the popular blog Birdgirl, and at age 17 I became the youngest person to see half of the birds in the world.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
The Observer Article about the need for diversity in nature writing By Stephen Moss
Last month, broadcaster and author Stephen Moss interviewed me about the lack of diversity in nature writing. I also referred him to Zakiya Mackenzie a brilliant VME nature writer. This the piece that went into The Observer/The Guardian as an online article. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/28/new-nature-writing-gender-race-climate It is really important that VME people are given the opportunity to write authentically and honestly, allowing them to have a true voice.
About The Author
Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At age 11 I started the popular blog Birdgirl, and at age 17 I became the youngest person to see half of the birds in the world.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
This is an article I have written for Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine, about the racism within the nature conservation and environmental sector and the need for the sectors to become ethnically diverse.https://www.resurgence.org/magazine/article5422-calling-out-racisms-to-save-our-planet.html “If the environmental sector fails to become ethnically diverse, it fails to bring on board an increasingly large section of our society. It will not have the widespread support it needs to stop climate breakdown, create sustainable cities or save the million species that are predicted to become extinct. We have to engage everyone in our society if we are to succeed in turning the tide of the environmental crisis.”
The photograph was taken by Oliver Edwards for Scouts Magazine
A selection of articles (and accompanying images) from each issue from Resurgence and Ecologist are available as ‘free to read’ online and help to generate greater awareness about ecological issues and share new ideas, analysis and inspiration with both new and existing readers. You can find my article in the November/December 2019 Magazine.
About The Author
Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At age 11 I started the popular blog Birdgirl, and at age 17 I became the youngest person to see half of the birds in the world.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
I am really really pleased to be on Lush Player with Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig’s Podcast which I am particularly excited about as Lush is my favourite shop and perfect for me as a teen vegetarian/almost vegan, environmentally friendly, low impact products that actually work and smell great too. Also, Lush is a Bristolian slang word that means lovely or gorgeous. If you Add Gert to make it “Gert Lush” that adds “very”. So Mark Constantine, if you ever read this, I’d love to be a Lush Ambassador!
This is a podcast that I originally did for Charlie Moores which was published on The Sound Approach (TSA) podcast. I am talking about birding in the UK, world birding, Race Equality in Nature, racism, Twitter trolls and being President of Black2Nature.
Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At age 11 I started the popular blog Birdgirl, and at age 17 I became the youngest person to see half of the birds in the world.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
