Environmental Communicator
An innovative profession
The last decade saw the creation of several innovative and glamorous professions and titles. Before the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, only few people could barely understand what an 'environmental communicator' might be. But when more than 100 heads of State gathered in Brazil to support the environmental cause, it was clear that only professional communicators, with a specific knowledge about conservation, could handle and expose the green message.
Haroldo Castro worked at Conservation International (CI) from 1991 to 2006. "People will only support conservation if they first understand why we want to protect a particular area or species," assumes Castro.
Since Rio-92, Haroldo Castro has been a fundamental element in communicating CI's message internationally. He has built a solid department, supervising staff in Washington, DC, and mentoring a network of international communicators. During the past years, he has been committed to strengthen this network of communicators and educators, providing training and building capacity seminars. "We need at least one environmental communicator for each National Park, in all countries around the world," confirms Haroldo.
4-Ps and awareness campaigns
In 1996, inspired by a meeting with creative directors of advertising agency J.W. Thompson, he created a methodology (the 4-P Workshop) to design communications strategies, which has been applied in six languages in more than 15 countries. "The 4-P is a simple but extremely effective tool. It is the first step to get people together to support a particular conservation cause or campaign," says Haroldo. "If people are excited, they will participate, with their hearts and minds. It is the trigger for behavioral change."
During the last decade, Haroldo Castro leaded several awareness campaigns. His strategies and communication tools were key in pushing for the creation of the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park in Peru, in stopping a Namibian pipeline in the Okavango Delta, and in blocking the Hydrovia project in the Pantanal.
