Benjamin Oroszlan
2025 Eco-Hero
FINALIST
Benjamin Oroszlan
Age 16
Calabasas, California, USA
P-22 Youth Wildlife Awareness Initiative
Benjamin Oroszlan founded the P-22 Youth Wildlife Awareness Initiative to address a critical gap in environmental education. After noticing that many students were unaware of the historic Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing being built near his home, he decided to take action.
Working with his high school's Roots and Shoots club, Benjamin developed an interactive and fun presentation to teach elementary school students about wildlife coexistence and conservation. The program leverages the powerful story of P-22, the famous mountain lion of Griffith Park, as a symbol of the challenges faced by animals in urban environments. To date, Benjamin has reached over 1,000 students through assemblies, with the goal of inspiring the next generation to become stewards of their local ecosystems.
Benjamin’s initiative has garnered impressive support from adults and major organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation, the National Park Service, and his local school district. He’s also an active voice for the Poison Free Calabasas movement, advocating for non-toxic pest control to protect wildlife from harmful chemicals. His long-term vision is to expand the program to other schools across the country where similar wildlife crossings are being built, creating a national network of youth wildlife advocates.
Benjamin’s project is a powerful example of how a young person can turn a local observation into a meaningful, large-scale educational movement.
