An Exclusive Interview with Amit Banka, Founder and CEO of WeNaturalists, a global ecosystem empowering the People of Nature with digital solutions
In this insightful interview with Amit Banka, Founder and CEO of WeNaturalists, we explore his inspiring journey of building a global platform that connects nature enthusiasts, promotes environmental awareness, and fosters collective action for a more sustainable planet.
You’ve often said the fight for clean air and climate action must go beyond policy and politics. What does people-driven change mean to you, and how does WeNaturalists embody that idea?
Amit Banka: Climate action must transcend policy because real change happens on the ground—with tribal leaders managing rewilded forests, youth building urban gardens, and farmers adapting to climate realities.
At WeNaturalists, we’re an ecosystem for these changemakers, not a traditional NGO. Our global community of 500,000+ connects forest rangers with climate activists, researchers with farmers.
We provide digital tools to amplify invisible work happening everywhere, stitching isolated efforts into a connected movement.
What inspired you to launch the Campus Champions program, and how do you see it shaping India’s youth-led climate movement in the years ahead?
Amit Banka: Five years ago, I realized our largest untapped resource was youth. College campuses vibrate with idealism, yet students felt isolated in climate efforts.
Campus Champions transforms that—it’s not lecturing science, but equipping students with tools, mentorship, and community to execute real action.
Within India’s colleges, we’re building a distributed, decentralized climate movement. By 2027-28, I see this network as foundational to India’s youth-led climate action.
India’s campuses are vibrant spaces of creativity and innovation. In your view, what role can student communities play in driving sustainability at the grassroots level?
Amit Banka: Students combine agency with idealism—they genuinely believe they can change things and have time and energy to do it. They bridge policy and community behavior change beautifully. When a college student champions composting, families transform their habits.
Students bring fresh thinking unconstrained by “we’ve always done it this way.” They use social media, organize film screenings with dialogues, conduct biodiversity surveys, upload data to our platform. Crucially, they need to see sustainability as a career path.
WeNaturalists has been using digital tools and data to empower environmental professionals globally. How are you extending that same digital ecosystem to support students and young changemakers on the ground?
Amit Banka: We’ve redesigned our platform to be student-accessible. Campus Champions manage projects like professionals—track cleanup drives, measure impact with photos and videos, and build portfolios. These projects become discoverable inspiration for peers.
We’ve launched “nature-themed indoor and outdoor experiences”—immersive programs combining digital tools with physical engagement. When data becomes personal, behavior changes.
Inclusivity is key in any community movement. How do you ensure that both professionals and students—across geographies, disciplines, and experience levels—find equal opportunities for participation and impact within WeNaturalists?
Amit Banka: Inclusivity isn’t a slogan; it’s practice. Our platform welcomes people anywhere—we’re particularly focused on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities where innovative climate work is invisible.
We celebrate discipline diversity: filmmakers documenting forests matter as much as forest rangers. We’ve built pathways for people without traditional credentials—you don’t need a degree to be a Campus Champion.
Our green careers programs help rural farmers become sustainability consultants. Our governance includes young voices and Global South perspectives. People of Nature Awards are community-nominated, grassroots recognition.
The Campus Champions are already leading awareness drives, film screenings, and local clean-up campaigns. Can you share a few standout initiatives or stories that reflect how young people are turning knowledge into real-world climate action?
Amit Banka: Some of the exemplary case studies that we have seen so far include a water audit activity conducted by Thakur College of Engineering and Technology, Mumbai. The activity served as a case study for 100+ colleges and universities across Maharashtra.
Another champion of ours in Bhopal took her love of nature to specially abled children and did an experiential happiness with nature activity with 20 children.
Beyond awareness, what mechanisms has WeNaturalists put in place to ensure that the Campus Champions’ efforts translate into measurable, long-term environmental outcomes?
Amit Banka: Beyond celebration, we measure impact. Every project has “Impact Documentation”—tree plantations document species, location, expected carbon sequestration, and survival rates.
Campus initiatives measure energy consumption before/after, cycling adoption, and waste diversion rates. Graduating Champions transfer projects and systems to incoming cohorts—creating institutional memory.
Have you taken any new initiatives recently? Could you share what they are and the impact you envision through them?
Amit Banka: We’ve launched Green Careers Launchpad—a structured pathway for anyone entering the green economy (green jobs surged 48%, led by Gen Z).
We’ve introduced nature-themed indoor and outdoor experiences—immersive programs combining digital and physical engagement.
Most importantly, we’re deepening citizen data collection: students and communities collect environmental data using simple tools and apps.
This crowdsourced, on-the-ground intelligence is revolutionary—insights now come from people on the ground, not just institutions.
Looking ahead, how do you plan to expand this initiative and continue fostering a sense of global unity around youth-led sustainability and nature conservation?
Amit Banka: Geographically, we’re deepening India’s reach to every state while scaling Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Latin America.
We’re building a sustainability economy within our platform: students monetize content, and young entrepreneurs sell solutions and create livelihoods. Global unity emerges because students fighting Delhi’s air pollution fight the same battle as peers in the Philippines or Brazil.
Different battlegrounds, same war. Our platform connects these changemakers, creating ground-up solidarity.
Amit Banka’s vision for WeNaturalists highlights the power of community and technology in shaping a greener future.
His dedication reminds us that meaningful environmental change begins with shared purpose, continuous learning, and small, consistent steps toward protecting our natural world.
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