Voices For The Planet: Creative Competition Launches To Inspire Young Wildlife Activists

Hong Kong-based environmental charity LumiVoce has recently partnered up with Beijing-headquartered NGO The China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) to launch a brand new competition for students. Called the Voices for the Planet Challenge, the competition aims to raise awareness about conservation and encourage the next generation of wildlife protectors. 

Announced in late March this year, the theme of the contest is “Saving All Life on Earth”, and it invites students to use their creativity to write stories, draw and make music videos about animals that are now threatened with extinction. 

From creating their own illustrations to short stories about a local animal on an adventure, to remixing music tracks and stems for a music video about their favourite animal species, the aim of the competition is to get young people to consider the importance of wildlife and protecting them from humanity’s destruction. 

“It gives students the chance to investigate the very real threats faced by wild animals, flora and their habitats and to think about how they can create, inspire and act in order to protect their futures,” the organisers said in their announcement. 

The Voices for the Planet Challenge is compatible with learning themes in school curricula across the world, but it also represents great way for young adults and students to get involved and learn about something engaging in their free time – especially since the coronavirus pandemic that has kept around 90% of the global student population at home. 

Furthermore, the topic of wildlife protection is highly relevant to the current Covid-19 pandemic, which has been linked to a seafood market in Wuhan city that also sold live wild animals such as civet cats, bats, snakes and pangolins. 

Recent evidence has suggested that pangolins were the probable intermediary host of Covid-19 that had jumped to infect humans. Sold illegally for their meat and keratin scales, a common ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, pangolins are considered the most trafficked animal in the world and are now critically endangered. Experts estimate that if current trends continue, they could go extinct in 10 years. 

Winners with the best stories, videos and drawings will see their entries published on all of LumiVoce’s official social media platforms, including on YouTube and on their website. 

The challenge is available for students across all age groups internationally – primary school to college students. Participants have to apply before April 22 and submit their entries before 5.00pm (HKT) on May 22, with the winners announced in June. 

For more information about the competition and to apply, please visit the Voices for the Planet Challenge here. 

Lead image courtesy of iStock.