A vision for youth leadership and nature recovery in the next decade from Action for Conservation

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By Hannah Ryan-Leah, Communications & Digital Manager

A person holding a microphone on a speaking podium in front of a printed banner — Alumnus and Heartwood Project YLG member, Angélica, speaks at AFC’s 10 Year Anniversary Celebration Event (Ziggy Lyons)

2024 marked the 10th anniversary of environmental action and education charity, Action for Conservation (AFC). Since the charity was founded by its current CEO, Hendrikus van Hensbergen, alongside visionary Trustees like the writer, Robert Macfarlane, the charity has been guided by an ambitious vision that all young people could be moved and empowered to protect and restore the living world. AFC believes that every opportunity to restore nature should be an opportunity to restore young people’s connection to it, to make them a part of that change, give them agency and in doing so enable them to revitalise and diversify the environmental movement whilst also nurturing their own wellbeing, connection to place and sense of purpose.

A decade in, AFC has engaged over 6,500 young people across England and Wales. Our innovative approach to immersing young people in nature during residential Summer Camps in UK National Parks, providing upskilling and knowledge-building opportunities in schools and at nature restoration project sites has shown significant positive impacts for young people.

The AFC team has delivered over 5000 hours of transformational Nature Education and connection through our programmes, with 73% of young people participating developing greater environmental awareness, connection to nature, and skills to help nature.

Two young people with orange wheelbarrows in a field — Penpont Project Youth Leadership Group (YLG) members restore the tree nursery (Action for Conservation)

Hendrikus reflected on AFC’s achievements, saying, “It is the individual journeys that young people have taken that are a constant and powerful reminder for me and the team of why we do this work. They offer proof of a virtuous circle - that by restoring nature, we can restore ourselves. Their commitment, ingenuity, ambition and humanity give us hope, hope that, against the backdrop of climate and ecological breakdown, there is a path to a future that is greener and fairer for everybody.”

The world is at a turning point, we face the most crucial decade for the climate, our wildlife and people worldwide. The climate and ecological crisis are already impacting young people’s wellbeing and quality of life from eco-anxiety, displacement and more. The next 10 years will set the scene for what their futures will look like and it's our job to help them shape their greener, fairer future. Our 2024 Young People and the Environment Report found that in the UK 64% of young people aged between 11 and 16 are experiencing eco-anxiety. This is compounded by 62% of young people feeling that adults (including politicians, teachers and parents) do not listen to their ideas and worries about the future and the state of the planet.

Two people sit in a field in front of a woodland valley view — Campers explore the Peak District National Park (Action for Conservation)

In the wake of the challenges ahead, our priorities remain, to inspire and empower young people to connect with and take action for the natural world. AFC does this in part by embedding youth voice at the heart of our organisation and programmes, from Youth Trustees sitting on our board to Youth Leadership Groups leading decision-making at our nature restoration projects, like the Penpont Project.

Our flagship Penpont Project - the UK’s largest intergenerational nature restoration initiative offers inspiration and lays the groundwork as a gold standard in youth leadership in action. Recently we secured lottery funding to expand this approach to other sites, Grow Wilder II alongside Avon Wildlife Trust in Bristol and the Heartwood Project with Heartwood CIC in Matlock. This will bring more young people into diverse communities, cultivating connections, tackling eco-anxiety and providing an opportunity to become decision-makers for our landscapes, now and in the future.

“Land-based projects are my favourite form of action because I love working and planning with other like-minded young people. Watching the small actions we take at each visit build into bigger changes, has an incredibly positive effect on me and the other young people. Working with other people on projects like this is such an incredible experience because a sense of community is created, a collective understanding and care for what we are doing.” Angélica, 15, Youth Leadership Group member.

Two people stand on a riverbank — Penpont Project YLG members survey the River Usk (Andy Pilsbury)

AFC is excited to spread the decision-making models developed at the Penpont Project further, empower others to involve young people more meaningfully in their work; deepen our education and mentoring programmes to deliver a lasting legacy for young people and their communities; and provide more opportunities for young people to experience transformational journeys out of the ordinary and into nature.

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Latest News: Action for Conservation’s residential Summer Camps are open for applications, find out more here, the deadline for applications is 5th May 2025.