What would happen if one day nature stopped whispering? A whisper made up of different sounds: the song of birds, the hum of bees, the rustle of wind through the grass, or the murmur of water running between stones. For writer and illustrator Marcos Almada Rivero, those small sounds tell a story about the life we share with thousands of species, and our responsibility to protect them.
His book “Óscar y el murmullo del monte” (Oscar and the Whisper of the Wilderness) was selected by the SDG Book Club, Mexico Chapter. It invites readers to pause and listen to what often goes unnoticed. The story follows Óscar, a tlacuache (or opossum) who, guided by his grandfather, discovers that the wilderness no longer sounds the same. The message is simple but profound: to protect nature, we need to see it and listen to it again.
This story comes from a real concern of mine about biodiversity disappearing from our surroundings. The children can value and appreciate biodiversity in their own environment.
Marcos Almada Rivero, writer and illustrator.
The author chose the tlacuache as the main character because it is one of Mexico’s most undervalued and misunderstood native animals. Although they are part of the ecosystems we share, opossums often receive indifference or rejection. “Children develop a new relationship with these animals, a new perspective, and for me that is a great achievement,” the author explained.
Listening is also caring.
In the book, sound is much more than a narrative device: it is a way of recognizing the richness of nature, for a healthy environment is one full of sounds. A hillside, an empty lot, or a ravine can harbor a complex web of biodiversity, in contrast to an aesthetic, orderly, and silent garden. Through the story, Óscar learns to pay attention to the sounds of crickets, coyotes, bees, wind, and water.
We must conserve not only so that it looks beautiful, but so that it sounds rich and full of diversity.
“Óscar y el murmullo del monte” was presented to the public during Aldea Global 2026, a space in the Bosque de Chapultepec where different nations share their culture, art, and identity within the frame of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Marcos encouraged children and their families to listen to the sounds of the largest urban forest in Latin America, reflect on actions for environmental care, and imagine and create characters that inhabit these spaces.
In the workshop — together with Tania García, Information Assistant at the United Nations Information Centre (CINU), Rodrigo Morlesin, Editorial Coordinator at UNESCO, and the publishing house Edelvives — participants were also able to identify the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the story and in everyday life activities, through the SDG Detectives workshop.
“We are at a critical and important moment in which we are losing our biodiversity (…) It is important that art, literature, and all other disciplines join this effort to restructure the way we live (…) in which we revalue what is important so that we can conserve the things that keep us connected to nature and to each other as a community,” reflected Marcos.
The author says that having “Óscar y el murmullo del monte” as part of the SDG Book Club represents a possibility to bring these conversations to more people and strengthen collective efforts to care for the environment.
The 2030 Agenda reminds us that protecting terrestrial ecosystems is a shared responsibility. Sometimes, that commitment begins with everyday actions: walking through a park, recognizing a native tree, observing a tlacuache, or simply keeping quiet to discover that the environment has many stories to tell. Because, as Óscar reminds us, to care for nature, we must first learn to listen to it.
read more: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/voices-nature-are-we-listening?hub=701
