Connecting youth and wildlife in India: the benefits of citizen science in the classroom

Abstract

Young people represent the future of wildlife conservation, but little is known about their perceptions of wildlife or how activities such as citizen science might impact those perceptions. This gap is particularly pronounced in countries of the Global South. We surveyed 656 adolescent youth across 20 schools in Maharashtra, India, before and after participating in a citizen science project using camera traps to survey wildlife. Indian youth displayed strong mutualistic values, high levels of wildlife affinity and awareness, and strong belief about potential coexistence between humans and wildlife. However, scores for these variables decreased as students’ age increased. The citizen science intervention mitigated some of these declines - regardless of students’ level of participation in the project. Overall, results highlight the potential power of citizen science as an educational tool and underscore the need for more research on youth’s relationship with wildlife in Global South countries.