Animal Avatars and Biodiversity

As an environmentally conscious person, do you have an animal avatar? You know, an avatar, one of those unique gaming personifications whose qualities you’d like to be identified with. For those that love the nature of this area, the animals we see often serve as good virtual surrogates.

It’s an interesting game to play with your children or grandchildren. Ask them, “What animal would you like to be if you could be any animal and how would you help sustain the environment?” Encourage them to think about it next time they are walking in a park, along a beach, or even working on a puzzle on a rainy day. Tell them you’d like to be a be a beaver, playing in the waters of little streams, building your home and dams out of mud and tree branches, and raising your family. All of your work acts to conserve water and promote biodiversity, creating multiple unique habitats for other creatures to live in.

Might they want to be a squirrel? Like them, squirrels are always busy running around your yard chasing each other. But of course, they aren’t playing tag, they are busy gathering and saving up acorns for winter.

That’s ok. The environment needs industrious creatures too, whose buried acorns can someday grow into great oak trees. Those who volunteer their time to good causes and help sustain the planet. And, for those who are doing well financially, donate to valuable climate or local sustainability causes. 

The wolves of Yellowstone make good avatars. They keep their ecosystem functioning by moving deer and elk around and away from stream edges. That allows vegetation to grow back along streams, which allows the water to cool which allows for more fish to survive. Also, wolves are cool looking avatars. 

Maybe you’re a huge adult elephant. A strong keeper and protector of the herd. Sheltering young ones under your shade and circling protectively if hungry predators prowl by.  Maybe you’re like a wild mustang horse. A fast mare or stallion leading your herd to greener pastures with earth-friendly choices of green energy and green transportation.

Some think having a parrot avatar might sound silly but they are smart, long lived, and can fly. A pretty good combination and in their native habitats they fly around to the ripest fruit trees and eat just enough before moving on to another group of trees, discreetly dropping seeds along the way, which helps regrow and expand forest habitat diversity. 

But just like the natural world of your virtual avatars, where biodiversity abounds, we need diversity in our environmental steward ecosystem too. Not everyone needs to be a biological scientist or a water engineer; the world of environmental stewards is expansive, so be your own avatar and make a difference. Be a forest and land guardian; bears embody strength, resilience, connection to forests. Be flexible; coyotes are canny and adaptable, surviving well in changing environments.

Ensuring the sustainability of our global environment is a call to each of us to act and transform how we live and connect with nature. UNESCO, as the sole UN Organization with a mandate in science, is leading global efforts to protect biodiversity by linking science, nature, and culture. If you’d like to play along with this aspect of culture, try engaging with nature and its creatures, find a local group that best fits your avatar, and be part of the solution that our environment is looking for.

Thinking and writing about avatars, imaginary characters, and fun children’s games is one way for ACES to celebrate May 20 th , The International Day for Biological Diversity. The topic of biodiversity and mutuality of species and their inter-connections is so vast that it’s hard to share in one essay. So, ACES asks that you celebrate biodiversity creatively each in your own way. Be the personification of your avatar and make a difference. Volunteer a little of your time to the environment

Start by viewing Edward Hicks’ famous painting “Peaceable Kingdom” and choosing an animal avatar to accompany you throughout the year -https://www.artchive.com/artwork/peaceable-kingdom-edward- hicks-1848/

We invite you to stay updated on environmental matters by subscribing to our monthly newsletter on ACES’ website. Please consider joining our community of stewards committed to Make Every Day Earth Day and subscribe to our Instagram and Facebook pages.

This educational column was originally published by The Daily News of Newburyport on May 22, 2026.