TALKING is easy, WALKING requires action...

It's nearly two years since I started using social media.  I was dragged into it kicking and screaming.  For WildTiger to grow, I was constantly told I had to get with the program.  Initially I was happy for WildTiger to do so, I did not really understand why I should personally.  My head was in the sand.

I was getting over Hepatitis E at the time. I picked it up somewhere in south Asia.  It's the least common of the strains but it almost knocked me over.  I woke up in hospital one night, tubes everywhere, a nurse wiping my high temperature induced brow and about a million doctors debating if they should yank out my liver.  I found out later that the consensus was that they should but the boss doc over ruled.  I'm pleased he did.  I still have the liver I was born with and it's doing ok despite a few ups and downs.  Love your liver.

So I had time on my hands during my recovery.  I started clicking on my first like buttons and began tweeting the tweet.  Of course I'm glad I did.  I've come to know some great people and have less sand up my nose.  Like it or not, social media is part of who we are now.

This is not a commentary on the pros and cons, my knowledge is still very clogged by sand.  However from a conservation standpoint my initial reaction was there was a huge amount of misinformation out there.  There was this seemingly never ending blurb of comment made with the only rule seemingly being "why let the facts get in the way of a good story".  I had been warned about this.

Nearly two years later, having just spent a butt numbing week in front of the computer, I still see this.  Ok, while I admit I'm still sandy I'm not so naive that I don't realize that having a bullshit meter is vital in research and it is relatively easy to wade through the rubbish to find the good stuff.  However what concerns me, and I stress that being desk bound is placing me in a not favoured habitat, is that the amount of energy used by meaningless dribble online is really counter productive.  From a conservation standpoint it's almost criminal.

There are so many meaningless petitions out there that never see the light of day as a real form of protest.  There is ill informed, ego driven comment by desk jockeys who have never spent a day in the field.  Armchair activism has a hugely important role BUT it is only effective if backed up with research using credible sources.  Passion and emotion are important but if you apply the principle to a sports team, well, they might win a few games, knock over a few  of the top teams but at season's end they will be left in the wake of the units who planned, showed discipline and were unified.  Above all, winners train hard.

To win you have to train hard, put in the hours and use the best resources available.  You have to be honest, don't make stuff up.  Please, armchair activists, be considered and measured in your approach.  And above all, think globally BUT take ACTION locally.  Credibility is attained by those who back words with action.  Wherever your backyard is (look around, it's there), look after it.

If we all apply this thinking then maybe we'll vote in the right governments because they reflect who we are.  It's 3am, I'm ten days away from landing back in Nepal the day before the election.  It's a crucial election.  I've just been chatting to Nepali conservationist friends who are very concerned.  The military has been mobilized to try and keep things under control in volatile voting areas. This means key anti-poaching personnel are doing other things away from their normal duties at National Parks,  There is a strike, food prices are rocketing up.  It is a time of tension.  There is potential for humans and wildlife to suffer if things get out of hand again.

It comes down to doing the right thing.  What we type on a Facebook page, who we vote for, we have to considered and thinking.  Use the words wisely to get a good outcome.

And then get out and plant a tree.