Press release from Action for Nature:
William David, a sixteen-year-old Asheville native, is one of the sixteen young environmental activists from across the globe honored by Action For Nature as a 2019 Young Eco-Hero, an award that recognizes eco-conscious youth aged 8 to 16 for their creative initiatives aimed at tackling the world’s critical environmental challenges.
David received the Second Place award in the 13-16 age category for his work overseeing the French Broad River Watershed Water Quality project. For three years now, David has led a class conservation project for each grade at his school, Christ School, where students participate in conservation projects like live staking for erosion control, river and creek clean ups, proper disposal of tires, and wetlands/riparian zone restoration projects.
David started his conservation work in 2015, leading a project that pulled 130 tires and a truck full of trash out of Hominy Creek in Asheville. He recruited his peers and fellow high school students – many of whom were hesitant to join and “get dirty”– to participate in the cleanup project. By the end of the day, all volunteers were in the river and worked longer than planned.
“Working with these students made me realize that involving young people who otherwise do not have much outdoors experience could be an added benefit. Studies clearly show that people who have the opportunity to interact with nature tend to then care about caring for it more,” said William David.
Since 2016, David has organized five water quality conservation projects per year, including river clean-ups, live staking for erosion control, wetland restoration and invasive plant removal. Over 500 participants have contributed over 1000 hours to this effort in the first two years. David is also the founder of Scout Conservation, a Facebook hub that connects Boy and Girl Scouts and other young people with projects that tackle the conservation needs in their community.
The Young Eco-Hero winners will accept their awards and discuss their projects at the 2019 International Young Eco-Heroes Conference at Google’s San Francisco offices on September 14. Participants will discuss their award-winning projects and take questions from the audience via social media using the hashtag #2019EcoHeroAwards.
Awarded annually, winners of the International Young Eco-Hero Award are selected by a panel of independent judges, including experts in environmental science, biology, and education. For the past fifteen years, the International Young Eco-Hero Awards have honored global youth aged 8 to 16 who are taking important steps to solve tough environmental problems. Since 2003, Action for Nature has recognized more than 267 young people from all over 28 countries and 29 U.S. states.
To learn more about the Young Eco-Hero Awards, view William David’s video submission, and read more about his project visit https://actionfornature.org/eco-hero-awards.
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