By Ricardo Zambrano

In case you don’t recognize my name, I was the Chair of the Executive Committee (EXCOM) of the Sierra Club’s Loxahatchee Group for seven years from 2011-2017. I have also been a wildlife biologist working to protect and recover endangered and threatened species for the last 30 years.

Why is this important to the Sierra Club? Because I am not your typical Sierra Club member. I was born in Mexico and immigrated to California when I was five. My family was extremely low income when we first moved to the U.S., yet somehow my parents were able to get my brother and I to experience the great outdoors. My summers as a kid were spent at the beach, camping in the mountains, and even visiting majestic national parks such as Yosemite National Park. These experiences helped shape my love for the outdoors and my interest in protecting our wild areas and our wildlife. And there are a lot of children, teenagers, and even some adults in the United States who are ready to follow in my footsteps. All they need are those experiences that could help shape the values, beliefs, and interests that bonds Sierra Club members to protect the environment.

Hispanics are an ever-growing segment of the U.S. population but extremely underrepresented in the environmental field. But Hispanics enjoy the outdoors just like the rest of you. You can see them boating, fishing, enjoying the beach, camping, and canoeing. But very few of them are Sierra Club members and even fewer are elected officials enacting legislation to protect our air, water, and lands. We are a huge and mostly untapped source of activists, voters, scientists, and stewards of the environment.

The Sierra Club has had the foresight for many years to try to address the lack of representation by people of color in the environmental field. One of those programs is the Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) program. ICO takes underserved kids outdoors to enjoy nature with the hopes that when they grow up they will be stewards of the environment. Many of these kids are of Hispanic heritage.

I have been a volunteer ICO outings leader from 2007-to the present. During that time, I have been privileged to expose hundreds of kids to the outdoors, sometimes for the very first time. Many of these kids had never kayaked our wetlands or snorkeled coral reefs to enjoy the tropical fish at places such as Peanut Island, Red Reef Park or Fort Lauderdale Beach despite sometimes living less than a 10-15 minute drive from these places. These experiences do make an impact on these kids. Many of them will eventually convince their parents to take them camping or kayaking on their own. And that can only lead to an appreciation of nature.

So celebrate Hispanic Heritage month by creating a more welcoming space for people who may not look like you but are just as enthusiastic about the outdoors as you. Now more than ever, with the looming threat of climate change, nature needs as many allies as possible.

If you would like to volunteer with the Sierra Club’s Palm Beach County ICO or donate to fund some of these trips and activities please email Meryl Davids, Chair of the local ICO program at MerylDavids2@gmail.com.

Also, check out this article from Sierra Club: "Are We Latinos a Disinherited Community?"