What Are the Links Between Colonialism & the Environment?

Uncover the impacts of colonialism on biodiversity & encourage students to imagine new ways of living (Geography, KS3)


This resource – created in collaboration with Climate Museum UK – focuses on the locations of Jamaica and Nigeria to explore questions about British colonialism and links to the climate crisis we face today.

The overarching question: ‘What are the links between colonialism and the environment?’ focuses on the exploration of companies and nations that have mechanisms to allow them to operate in other countries – military power, legal challenges, land-grabs and ‘social licence’. The impacts of colonialism have been devastating to biodiversity, and therefore to people who live with close dependence on thriving ecosystems. In turn, the damage to the planet is escalating and impacting on all humans and species.

In these three learning sequences, pupils explore the many ways we can imagine alternative ways to live and communicate these ideas.

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