Petitions

ThylacineAlive

ThylacineAlive

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Every once and a while I get emails from the WWF and NWF asking me to sign petitions to urge the conservation of endangerd species and wild places and it seems they never reach the amount of signatures they want I thought posted the petitions on this thread would be a great way to get the word out and get more signatures for these great causes. So here's the first one I just got from the WWF for the conservation of the Vaquita:
https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=681

If you have a petition you think deserves to be signed then please feel free to post it on here!

~Thylo:cool:
 
Ah, petitions. A wonderful way to get your supporters to help you farm more contact details for potential donors.

Sorry if I'm a cynic.
 
Steve Robinson said:
Why sorry????

You are talking realism, not cynicism.
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I take it you two do not believe petitions can have any sort of an impact? While I doubt a single petition such as these will truly cause a permanent change to occur they can be seen as a first step to causing a real change. Do you have any better ideas on how to spread the word?

~Thylo:cool:
 
Here's a helpful first hint. Governments in the post-colonial world aren't keen on being told what to do by rich westerners. That's something that happened for a lot of their history and they're understandably conscious of wanting to look independent and powerful to their domestic constituents

Occasionally petitions can work - mostly when they're both created and organised locally, and are about local issues. But Americans demanding action from the Mexican President? C'mon. These things are about providing data and fundraising leads to the WWF.
 
Once upon a time when you signed a petition it involved you writing your name on a piece of paper. A petition with 10,000 signatures meant a pile of paper. That pikle of paper, when put on someone's desk, carried more impact than an electronic file with 10,000 names on it that arrives by email. Petitions these days make people feel that they are doing something worthwhile. They'd be better off donating money.

:p

Hix
 
CGSwans said:
Here's a helpful first hint. Governments in the post-colonial world aren't keen on being told what to do by rich westerners. That's something that happened for a lot of their history and they're understandably conscious of wanting to look independent and powerful to their domestic constituents

Occasionally petitions can work - mostly when they're both created and organised locally, and are about local issues. But Americans demanding action from the Mexican President? C'mon. These things are about providing data and fundraising leads to the WWF.
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The NWF works mosty with Canada and the US and they're the other group whose petitions I'd like to post something here. For the record Hix, not everyone can afford to make donations commonly. And all I wanted to do was start trying to make a difference by trying to help an endangered species. I thought the members of this site would be very willing to help me but it seems every petition posted on this site recently has only been criticized so shame on me for trying to make a difference!:(

~Thylo:cool:
 
I'm certainly not criticising you for wanting to help and I'm sorry if you got that impression.

I was simply putting the view, which I think is sound, that the vast majority of petitions have very little positive impact. Some might even be counter-productive. The exception is where the signatories might represent a significant constituency that is of interest to the body being petitioned. There's no good reason for the Mexican President to care what you think about dolphins. Your local congressman or mayor might take notice of something more local, for instance. Remember the slogan. Think global, act local.

Just be wary how much private information you give out and to whom, even if you agree wholeheartedly with the cause being promoted. In my old political warrior days a rival group had what appeared to be open-ended petitions for worthy causes like legalising same-sex marriage and ending the war in Iraq. As far as I know these petitions were never sent to anyone, but I do know that people who signed the wretched things could expect phone calls and emails for a long time afterwards, asking them to give money, join their organisation, attend protests and did I mention give money?

I'm not for a moment suggesting WWF or NWF are the same sort of people, but petitions are a standard way to identify potential followers, obtain data points about their interests and shape future marketing campaigns towards them. Just be wary, is all.
 
Thank you for your concern. I don't really sign any petitions that aren't WWF and NWF as I know them to be clean. I do doubt WWF's petitions bring many results but it's the start. The world seems to be becoming a much more dangerous place for wildlife and all I wish to do is attempt to save what's left- which I know is a common view among us all on here. If you do not think WWF petitions work (I still think the NWF ones do work better since they work pretty much solely in North America) then what would you suggest doing to start a change for better? I've been thinking a Facebook page designed around endangered species effected greatly by the illegal wildlife trade (the main purpose would be to bring some attention to lesser known endangered species along with the more well-known ones).

~Thylo:cool:
 
You're not going to like my answer, but I can only echo my point from before. Non-western governments don't like being told what to do by rich westerners. That's one of the underlying rules of international politics (which is what you're engaging in by advocating for another country's government to change their policies. You are more likely to do actual harm to your cause by making it harder for them, politically, to enact the policies you want.

Hix is right. It comes down to money. As a rich (and I'm using that term in its global context, before you get offended) westerner, your spending power is far greater than your opinions. Most developing nations are heavily dependent on western investment and imports. For instance, in a typical day you probably consume more goods made in China than the avwrage Chinese person does. So don't buy fish from the Gulf of California that is caught using the nets. Make it a bad idea to use them economically.
 
CGSwans said:
You're not going to like my answer, but I can only echo my point from before. Non-western governments don't like being told what to do by rich westerners. That's one of the underlying rules of international politics (which is what you're engaging in by advocating for another country's government to change their policies. You are more likely to do actual harm to your cause by making it harder for them, politically, to enact the policies you want.

Hix is right. It comes down to money. As a rich (and I'm using that term in its global context, before you get offended) westerner, your spending power is far greater than your opinions. Most developing nations are heavily dependent on western investment and imports. For instance, in a typical day you probably consume more goods made in China than the avwrage Chinese person does. So don't buy fish from the Gulf of California that is caught using the nets. Make it a bad idea to use them economically.
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I was talking more US species conservation as you said- think global, work local. I guess my Facebook endangered species thing didn't help with that. I don't buy wild caught sea food (or any wild caught food for that matter) anyway so you don't have to worry about me buying fish from the gulf (of California). Since they work within the United States do you think it would still be alright to post NWF petitions (even though you don't agree with online pretitions).

~Thylo:cool:
 
I never said not to post any petitions, and wouldn't presume to tell you what to post. Go for your life - I was just offering my perspective. :)
 
I was cynical on another petition thread, so I thought that I would steer clear of this thread because Thylacine's heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, I don't have a better solution for you.

Indeed, I would disagree with Hix and CGSwans about donating money being better as the money could be siphoned off into people's pockets or for other projects - case in point would be the cheetah conservation thread on another forum - and you are left with a hole in your pocket and a sour taste in your mouth. At least signing a petition is free of charge, especially if you put fake details.
 
nanoboy said:
I was cynical on another petition thread, so I thought that I would steer clear of this thread because Thylacine's heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, I don't have a better solution for you.

Indeed, I would disagree with Hix and CGSwans about donating money being better as the money could be siphoned off into people's pockets or for other projects - case in point would be the cheetah conservation thread on another forum - and you are left with a hole in your pocket and a sour taste in your mouth. At least signing a petition is free of charge, especially if you put fake details.
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I think it's safe to say they are talking about well-known and trustable foundations like the WCS, WWF, and NWF.

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
I think it's safe to say they are talking about well-known and trustable foundations like the WCS, WWF, and NWF.

~Thylo:cool:
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I hope so, else I am going caroling by those guys. :D

Have you considered a fund raiser for a conservation cause? Maybe something in your town or school? Maybe get a bunch of like-minded friends on board. Charity events are a regular occurrence in Oz (Melbourne anyway) as I have been to my fair share of morning teas where I had to make a donation for cancer or whatever. When it comes to money, a high degree of transparency and accountability is needed so it might be worthwhile to get an adult on board as well.
 
ThylacineAlive said:
The NWF works mosty with Canada and the US and they're the other group whose petitions I'd like to post something here. For the record Hix, not everyone can afford to make donations commonly. And all I wanted to do was start trying to make a difference by trying to help an endangered species. I thought the members of this site would be very willing to help me but it seems every petition posted on this site recently has only been criticized so shame on me for trying to make a difference!:(

~Thylo:cool:
Click to expand...

Thylo, I wasn't criticising you; I was merely pointing out the effectiveness of petitions today. Money is more effective, if it goes to the right places. That's where due diligence comes into it. You check and verify where the money goes first before you donate it (because a lot of organisations ask for donations for such-and-such cause, but only 20c out of every dollar actually goes to the cause, the rest goes to administration costs, overheads etc.).

In my opinion Due Diligence should also be done on petitions before you sign them, mainly for the reasons listed by CGSwans above. That's why I am suspicious of the petition in the other thread, for the reasons I outlined in that thread.

And don't worry about not having money to donate at present, this will change in a few years and you can donate to your heart's content.

As for something to do right now, if you're on Facebook you could do what I do. I have 'liked' the Traffic web page and so I see when they periodically post images of smuggled animals caught at the border, or of species endangered by trade etc. I then 'share' these and all my friends can see what's happening too. Although many of my friends are zoo keepers and find it interesting from that perspective, many of my friends are from school or elswhere and know very little about wildlife, but they also are interested. And i aslo post links to interesting websites that I find posted on ZooChat - like Chlidonias' Bird-of-Paradise Project. So I raise awareness that way (but I have to be careful - too much posting and my non-zoo friends will become inured and they'll start to ignore the posts).

Hope this helps.

:p

Hix
 
Well since the idea wasn't excepted too well I suppose I won't be adding the anti-pollution petition I just recieved from the NWF. Unless you think it's ok since they work in the US.

~Thylo:cool:
 
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