Art in the service of biodiversity

The Thursday 27 November 2025

3 min

Did you know that art can become a powerful tool for protecting biodiversity? Painting, sculpture, land art, emotional mapping… Artists around the world use their creativity to warn, educate, and inspire action in support of ecosystems. But how can art actually help preserve nature? And what if you, too, became artists committed to protecting the planet?

Art as a tool for raising awareness

In 2024, during the Art Basel x UNESCO exhibition supported by Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy, photographers from around the world revealed the fragile beauty of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Their sublime works remind us of a simple truth: we only protect well what we love, and we only love well what we know. People exposed to images of nature feel a stronger emotional connection to ecosystems and are more inclined to engage in their protection. We invite you to discover the photographers, their worlds, and their works in the exhibition’s e‑book.

Land art and ephemeral installations also transform the way we see the world. For example, artworks created with plastic waste collected on beaches (such as those by the collective Art of Change 21) raise public awareness about ocean pollution. These creations, often collaborative, mobilize communities and inspire concrete actions, such as cleanup campaigns or petitions to protect natural areas.

Why does it work?

Art makes things tangible

In Rennes, educational projects and ‘sensitive maps’ (such as those carried out by Rennes 2 University or as part of the Local Nature Education Plan) enable pupils and residents to visualise the impact of urbanisation on wetlands, integrating local residents’ stories and scientific data. These participatory tools help inform public discussions and consultations on ecosystem protection.

It brings people together

By bringing together scientists, artists, and local communities, art helps foster collective solutions. In the Amazon, Indigenous communities use sensitive mapping to defend their territorial rights in the face of deforestation (source: Ermeto Tuesta, the Indigenous cartographer who draws maps to protect the Amazon).

It highlights environmental issues

A militant artwork in the form of a plastic bridge (Plasticosis, Andrésy, 2022), built from locally collected waste, was installed on the Seine to raise awareness about plastic pollution. This type of artistic installation serves as a tool for awareness‑raising campaigns and can influence local waste‑management policies. (Art serving ecology – ESI Business School).

Why don’t we take action?

Here are two ready-to-use activities for exploring these topics in class, with your students, or as a family:

1. Create a sensitive map of your environment

Objective: To understand and describe one’s immediate environment by identifying its ecosystems, biodiversity and the impacts of human activities.

Equipment:

Our Ecomap tool (free to download).
Markers, pencils, collages.

Procedure (1 hour, from Cycle 2 onwards):

Choose a location: your neighbourhood, a nearby forest, a coastal area…
Identify the issues: Which species live there? Which human activities threaten them? (e.g., pesticides in agriculture, overfishing, urban development)
Draw the map:
- Position yourself and sketch intuitively what is around you, having first established the scale.
- Use coloured stickers to mark human and natural activities (e.g. red for pollution, green for protected areas).
Share and discuss: Show your maps and discuss: ‘How can we protect these places?’

2. Join the #IconicFishes campaign

Objective: Take part in a global artistic movement to protect little‑known but essential marine species.