The power of nonfiction life story narratives to communicate conservation to a non-specialist audience

Abstract

Without significant adaptation and response to climate change and environmental destruction, human behaviour has the capacity to lead to our eventual demise. However, in our fast-paced media world, conservation messages and warnings are often ignored by the public, politicians and commercial concerns. This article proposes that long-form nonfiction narratives are an important communication tool for the dissemination of conservation science in the Anthropocene. Furthermore, it suggests that future-focused nature biographies have the capacity to present science in a way that is accessible to a non-specialist audience, evoking the necessary responsibilities and stewardship outside of scientific circles. This article compares biographical exemplars with the author’s practice-led research exploring the life of Malaysian biologist and tropical ecologist, Dr Wong Siew Te.