Storytelling for conservation action

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Search and select potential stories in your organization

To get working material for the exercises leading to your conservation story, we ask you to search for potential material in your own circles.

Download our tool Search and select stories and make the jump

Exercise 1: Create a list

Which stories about nature conservation do you tell the most often?

1. ……………………….

2. ……………………….

3. ……………………….

 

Which stories about nature conservation are frequently told by your colleagues, partner organizations or the media?

1. ……………………….

2. ……………………….

3. ……………………….

 Exercise 2: What are the key points?

Select two stories from your list of stories. Write down the key point, the main message your story should tell.

Story                                                                                                             Keypoint

1.  ……………………….                                                                    ……………………….

2.  ……………………….                                                                    ……………………….

OUR STORY OF REZVIN: Examples of a story collected in a village about of value of the Sundarbans

Rezvin and her team went to the villages and asked: ‘Could you please tell us your memorable experiences with the Sundarbans. What do the Sundarbans mean for you? What remarkable stories do you know?’

Here is an example of the many amazing stories Rezvin told us she heard: ‘Yesterday, I met a fisherman named Suman in another village. He has black hair, is lean and has really sharp sight. He told me about an event that changed his life. One day he was fishing when out of the blue, over his head the clouds thickened, then cracked and rumbled like a roaring beast, and suddenly the rain came pouring down. It became pitch dark. Suman faced a violent storm. It was too late to return home. The screaming wind blew with amazing force. Water was all around him. His boat sank. He swam like the devil was on his heels and reached the land. He tried to stand up but the wind blew him right over. So he held on to a tree. Then a big poisonous snake climbed the tree and clung to it right next to him, hissing in his face. It also took shelter as the Sundarbans is its home and protector too. Suman was so scared he lost his senses. Everything became black. When he got back his senses, he didn’t see the snake anymore. It left the tree without doing any harm to him. The next morning, he was rescued by other fishermen and brought back home.

When he told me his adventure, I realized that all the animals live together in the Sundarbans because it is like our mother. The animals don’t hurt each other. We all are children of mother Sundarbans. After his life changing experience, Suman treats the forest with more respect. He used to poach deer sometimes, but now he doesn’t want to do any harm anymore to his mother and protector, the Sundarbans.’

How could Rezvin use this story?

Strategic elements of the story

Target audience: villagers

Key point: the Sundarbans protect us, if we protect the Sundarbans, we will be safe

Conflict: evil forces battle with our natural protector, the sacred Sundarbans

Hero: Suman

Adversary: Evil forces

Rezvin tells this story to new villages where they introduce their programs. She could also ask the villager to tell the story in other villagers, that is even more convincing!

Exercise 3: What is the target audience and or key point of your story?

Select the story you want to develop. Who is the target audience? Optimize the key point you want to make. Try to be as concise and concrete as possible!

  1. Target audience:……………………
  2. Key point:……………………………..

OUR STORY OF REZVIN : Key point of a presentation for the Rotary Club

WildTeam is looking for funders in Bangladesh. Funds are needed to train more Village Tiger Response Teams. Rezvin got an invitation to give a presentation at the Rotary club in Dakar. She chose to tell a story with the following key point:

 

WildTeam has an effective program worth funding. We initiate Tiger Response Teams with volunteers from Sundarban villages. These teams stop the killing of stray tigers and save them. If you donate, it will truly make a difference. We will let you know how many tigers your team has saved.

The next topic is about the conflict and characters of your story.