I've been thinking a lot about who volunteers in conservation, and who sits on the boards of conservation organisations. In my experience, the two usually mirror each other. I've seen this first hand working with a number of national parks over the years.
What the data shows
Out of curiosity, I brought together the diversity findings from previous research across several national parks. That gave me a picture of 800 volunteers, some volunteering directly for National Park Authorities and some volunteering in the landscape with other organisations.
Fewer than 10% are under 55
Fewer than 5% are disabled
Fewer than 1% are from a Black, Asian or other minoritised ethnic background
Fewer than 1% are LGBTQ+
Men outnumber women three to one
Three to one may not sound as unbalanced as you'd expect in conservation. But take out cultural and archaeological roles and it's closer to four to one.
Why boards and volunteering are connected
When boards lack diversity, people from different backgrounds are less likely to see an organisation as somewhere they'd feel comfortable volunteering. That in turn means the pipeline of future board members, committee members and lead volunteers stays the same. Without a deliberate effort, the pattern repeats itself.
What helps
I'm seeing a lot of good intent and real progress from environmental and conservation organisations. I was recently invited to meet a local Women With Chainsaws path-clearing group, a great example of creating a space where people who've often felt like outsiders can belong.
From the projects I've worked on, a few things tend to make a difference:
looking honestly at your own volunteer and board data, and sharing it
thinking about when roles happen, as weekday daytime work parties rule out most people of working age
creating group and social roles, including spaces for specific communities to volunteer together
thinking about travel, as many sites are hard to reach without a car
recruiting board members openly, and seeing volunteers as future trustees
There's lots to be hopeful about on the ground. I'd love to see the same energy reach national park boards too.