Climate anxiety – sometimes referred to as eco-anxiety, eco-grief, or climate doom – can be defined as feelings of hopelessness, guilt, fear, anxiety, and in some cases, rage. Turning this into collective action is critical if we stand a chance against the climate crisis. 

Ecosystems on the brink of collapse 

Every day, the news cycle delivers more devastating headlines about climate-related disasters. In the UK alone, this year we’ve seen floods and intense rainfall threatening food security and a rapid decline in biodiversity.  

More than 70 million birds have disappeared from the UK’s skies since 1970, there are on average 37% fewer woodland birds in our woods compared with 1970, and certain species, like marsh tits, are projected to disappear entirely by 2042. In 2019, David Attenborough described this as the new extinction: “This is the new extinction and we are halfway through it. We are in terrible, terrible trouble and the longer we wait to do something about it, the worse it is going to get.” 

As we live with the awareness of the vastness and severity of this challenge, the urgency to act, and the entrenched systems that obstruct us from rolling out proven solutions at scale, it can be easy to tip into paralysing grief and fear. We must choose action. This Earth Day, we turned to our team to explore ways to manage eco-grief.

The history of Earth Day 

“We are on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. Earth is the only world known so far to harbour life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known” – Carl Sagan, 1990 

In 1970, the same year that the Beatles released “Let It Be”, a US senator from Wisconsin rallied over 20 million students across the United States to fight for the preservation and protection of “the pale blue dot”. That day marked the very first Earth Day. Now, fifty-four years on, that energy and those words of wisdom are arguably needed more than ever.  

Our Product Manager, Maria Roquet Guàrdia, aligned her career around the environment after seeing the effects of climate change on her home. 

“Going home and witnessing first-hand what climate change is doing there is nerve-wracking. Fruit trees are losing their bloom and not giving fruit because of the changes in temperature for three years in a row. Farmers are having to choose between watering one set of crops or an orchard because there’s not enough water for all. Pests that we have not seen before at lower heights in the forests are now thriving and killing our perennial trees,” Maria says.  

For Maria, one of the ways that she manages anxiety is working in environmental technology. Maria studied Environmental Sciences at the University of Barcelona, before graduating with a Master’s in Geographical Information Management and working in environmental research, programming, analysis, and database management.  

“Through my work at Zulu Ecosystems, I feel like we are part of the solution,” she says. “We see first-hand how the climate crisis has the potential to bring humans closer together, from multiple areas – investment, land management, communities, ecology, science, city planning, farmers, and more – to make us value what we have, force us to collaborate at scale, be creative, be bold, and adapt,” says Maria. 

For Ed Asseily, CEO of Zulu Ecosystems, “It’s my work at Zulu Ecosystems that helps me to cope with so much that is going on around us. It is empowering to do something.” 

Whether it is locating Scotland’s lost woods in collaboration with the National Library of Scotland or delivering a large-scale peatland restoration project in the Cairngorms National Park – working with local contractors to block and restore almost 100km of drains, raise the water table, and rewet the land – there is power in the collective.  

What's more, technology like Zulu Ecosystems’ platform rapidly aligns multiple stakeholders around the same set of metrics to accelerate agreement and project co-design, and ultimately drive real-world impact.  

Zulu Ecosystems: Using technology to enable nature restoration at scale 

At Zulu Ecosystems, we’re committed to taking action to restore degraded habitats at scale. Combining the latest science, investment models and land data with in-house land management and a diverse team with multi-disciplinary expertise, we help landowners evaluate, finance and deliver regeneration projects at the landscape or estate level. 

Contact us 

To find out more and join our growing team, please visit our open roles here. If you’d like to find out more or can’t find what you’re looking for, please contact hello@zuluecosystems.com.