Gadis Saintis

Friday, 23 May 2025 +

Conservationist (/kɒnsəˈveɪʃ(ə)nɪst/);

a person who advocates or acts for the protection and preservation

of the environment and wildlife

Hello people.

I've been frequently called activist by my friends, who thought I am one of the people who love nature so much and my hobby is bringing banner with "Protect Our Nature!" written on it, making a protest in front of bulldozers that are getting ready to knock down trees (not in a bad way, I mean people who do this should receive our respects for their braveness but I am not...yet one of them and yes, I do love nature very much). I am actually a soon-to-be CONSERVATION BIOLOGIST and I don't protect nature and wildlife for fun, that's literally my job. That is because, I learned how to conserve and protect our biodiversity* with some scientifical ways, hence, the biologist or scientist. I don't learn evolutionary biology or all these killer science subjects just for you to call me an activist (in a bad way, macam perlian, macam nak mengejek sebab aku dah pernah kena sekali).

So, for the purpose of this blog, I will define conservationist as anyone who dedicates their time and efforts to conserving biodiversity, habitats, a species, traditional knowledge* or even a community of indigenous people. Yes, it really is that broad! Jangan fikir conservationist duk jaga binatang dengan pokok je okay annnnnnnd you don't have to be a scientist to be a conservationist. You can be an engineer, a manager, a singer or even a gamer yang rajin raise awareness through your Twitch streams—semua tu pun boleh jadi conservationist if you're dedicating your time and platform to protect and conserve in any way.

Here's the thing, the misconception starts when people assume conservationists are all tree-huggers who live in the jungle, don’t use plastic, makan daun and mandi sungai je. No no no, my friend. Some of us live in cities, drive cars, scroll TikTok, and binge Netflix while simultaneously worrying about habitat fragmentation and species extinction. We don’t have to abandon modern life to care about nature. Conservation is not a lifestyle trend; it’s a responsibility.

And you know what’s more? Conservation is messy. It’s not just sunshine, baby turtles, and planting trees. Kadang-kadang it's arguing over policies, running statistics at 2am, and crying over data that doesn’t make sense (or crying over lack of data cries in underfunded research). Sometimes it's doing stakeholder meetings where you're the youngest person in the room, trying to explain why a patch of forest is more than just 'unused land'. Sometimes, it's just you and your laptop trying to connect dots between species presence and climate data while your kopi dah sejuk.

I remember during my fieldwork, orang kampung tanya, “Kerja kamu ni… kerja kerajaan ke?” and I had to explain for the 10th time that I'm a researcher doing biodiversity assessment, bukan pegawai perhutanan, bukan pegawai daerah, and definitely bukan influencer (although kalau ada sponsor nak bagi baju outdoor free, I won’t say no 👀).

So yeah, next time you see someone talking passionately about saving a frog species you’ve never heard of, or advocating for indigenous land rights, or posting about mangrove restoration, jangan cepat label as “activist” like it’s some vague thing. That person might be a highly trained expert doing work that bridges science, policy, and community. Or maybe just a concerned citizen trying their best. Both valid. Both matter.

The point is, being a conservationist is not one-size-fits-all. It's a beautiful chaos of disciplines, perspectives, and passions, and we need all kinds of people to make conservation actually work.

To be continued... (kalau rajin update lah hahaha)

*Biodiversity: variability among living organisms (kepelbagaian benda hidup)

*Traditional knowledge: knowledge atau skill turun temurun dalam sesuatu community, kaum or culture

Labels: Awareness, Biodiversity, Conservation

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