The need for environmental conservation has increased exponentially in visibility and urgency over the past few decades. A new report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) reported that the population of most terrestrial wildlife has fallen by at least 20%.
And recently, a protest in Berlin of over 1,000 scientists from 25 different countries caused a stir in international news.
Their message?
We are not doing enough.
And we aren’t.
Pam Agullo is an activist, advocate, and ambassador who has been trying to deliver this message to as many people as possible.
She currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the El Paso Zoological Society and an ambassador for Trees for the Future. She was recently crowned Mrs. Texas Earth for 2021 and has done features in outlets like Bazaar Vietnam.
Pam believes that misinformation and a lack of awareness are two key hurdles to climate action. To address this, she focuses on following the Miss Earth motto of “beauty for a cause” to raise awareness of the climate crisis as well as organizations that work toward the same goal.
As Pam Agullo shares, “Raising awareness in the current and future generations really is the key to lasting change. For the El Paso Zoological Society, social media and branding served as good amplifiers, strengthening our ability to raise funds, educate, communicate, and build a relationship with our community.”
This allows the nonprofit Society to raise money for the Zoo and work toward its conservation goals. Beyond this,” she continues, “I also developed an Everyday is Earth Day campaign for our Zoo Camp which I helped conduct through social media platforms during the pandemic.” Then there’s their Wild for Words library, a repository of books and resources on wildlife and the environment to ideally increase families’ engagement while at the zoo.
These, combined with Pam’s other efforts in the Society — such as the revival of a multi-purpose “EcoGarden” attraction used for growing food, animal enrichment, and composting — are aimed at engaging people at a young age and at the grassroots level.
This focus on both local, community-based actions and associations with broader organizations are important to Pam, who stresses that any effort, big or small, is vital to climate action.
“Step out of the misconception that in order to make a difference you have to make a drastic lifestyle change. Choose actions you can incorporate into your life easily.” This could mean avoiding single-use plastics and non-sustainably farmed palm oil as much as possible, or supporting organizations committed to protecting the environment.
Case in point: Pam Agullo is continuing her initiatives with the El Paso Zoological Society through an upcoming partner campaign with other Zoos. She’s also in the final stages of launching her own website, which will feature a blog related to her conservation efforts as well as an eco-friendly eCommerce section for fundraising.
“Imperfect action is better than no action,” says Pam Agullo. “The most important thing is that we act now, today…There’s no alternative planet to live on. Act with what you have and make smart choices that are good for the planet. Every single one of us has the power to make a difference. It is our responsibility. We were given this planet as a gift to cherish, take care of, and enjoy, not to exploit and destroy.”