Update on Drought & the Elephants in Mali

Update on Drought & the Elephants in Mali

The field team in Mali has just sent some updates on the severe drought situation which threatened the survival of the unique elephants of Mali. Dr. Susan Canney, our conservation outreach specialist, and Jake Wall of Save the Elephants have been on-ground in Mali,...
Trail Training at Nalychevo Nature Park

Trail Training at Nalychevo Nature Park

Russel Wicka, a guest writer on Talking WILD, is a Supervisory Forest Technician for the Tongass National Forest, Yakutat Ranger District.  This article was published in the Winter 2009 Alaska Region SourDough Notes. Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula is home to some...
The Heart of Wild Europe

The Heart of Wild Europe

The Prague conference was an exciting new step in the drive to protect the remaining 1% of Europe’s land that is still wild, with sincere congratulations hanks to the visionary chairmanship of Ladislav Miko (currently the Czech Minister of Environment), and the...
Huge New Canadian Wilderness

Huge New Canadian Wilderness

The Government of Canada has just announced designation of a huge addition to the Nahanni National Park in the NW Territory.  The total size of this new protected area is some 7.5 million acres – nearly three times the size of Yellowstone National Park! ...
Mali Elephants on the Move, Drought Issue Still Urgent

Mali Elephants on the Move, Drought Issue Still Urgent

We have just recieved a short update from field crews in Mali, who are working tirelessly to help save the elephants, whose survival is threatened by the severe drought in the Gourma region.   There are still many elephants coming and going into Banzena (the largest...
Mali Drought Continues – Rare Elephants Suffering

Mali Drought Continues – Rare Elephants Suffering

It’s been an intense week in Mali as WILD and our partner Save the Elephants (Kenya) have worked to help the suffering elephants. We’ve been at it on two fronts: internationally, with media and donors, and in the field in central Mali where STE expert Jake...
Porkbush Fights Climate Change

Porkbush Fights Climate Change

Wilderness and climate change is not just about saving tropical forests in the Amazon.  It is also about restoring wildland qualities (world-wide) that have been destroyed, and in the process increasing carbon sequestration capacity and increasing what are called...
My memory of “The Horn”

My memory of “The Horn”

(as a post script the the Ian Player Perspective – The Horn) I well remember the snowy day in 1982 in Scotland when I drove Ian around the Findhorn Bay, south of Forres, to the Cumming Estate. We were greeted by Gordon Cumming himself, had tea, and “talked...
Ian Player Perspective – The Horn

Ian Player Perspective – The Horn

I remember very clearly my first encounter with the White Rhino, in the Imfolozi Game Reserve, which I have described in some detail in my book ‘The White Rhino Saga.’ But some years after that experience I was talking with the renowned South African ecologist...
Ian Player Perspective – Lake St. Lucia

Ian Player Perspective – Lake St. Lucia

The current crisis on Lake St Lucia, the pearl of iSimangaliso Wetland Park (a UN World Heritage Area) as it is now known, began a long time ago, probably when the great Zulu king Shaka rose to power in the 1800’s and began increasing the cattle herds in the...

Umzi Wethu – Nature, Nurture, Future

We’ve just uploaded this fantastic video about Umzi Wethu, a program we run in conjunction with The Wilderness Foundation (Africa) to address the urgent issue of youth orphaned or displaced by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.  Umzi students are trained for...
The Patience it Takes…

The Patience it Takes…

I tried to call you yesterday but you were in a meeting. I have asked Andre to stop at the school if he has a chance going by that way with the lodge camera and take some pictures for us. The builders tell me they would have finished the classroom by Friday. I am...
Meet the Pilot

Meet the Pilot

Darren Potgieter met Mike Fay in 2003, while he was researching digital aerial photography applications.  Darren’s skills as pilot and his knowledge of mapping and environmental issues made him the perfect fit for the Zakouma aerial elephant protection program,...
Ecotourism in the Gourma

Ecotourism in the Gourma

I’ve been studying for the GMAT over the last month so you must excuse the structure of this blog post; I used it to practice my analysis of an issue analytical writing assignment, (short for can you compose sentences in English). Eco-tourism as a tool for...

Kayla Smith, Age 11, Makes Video to Save Rhino

This fun and informative video is presented by Kayla Smith an 11 year old pupil at Chisipite. The school has been involved in raising funds for the rhino for 22 years. There are less than 300 black rhino left in Zimbabwe and – without urgent support – it...
What is Conservation Photography?

What is Conservation Photography?

I am often asked to define “conservation photography.” The idea, of course, is nothing new, but the conceptualization behind it is still evolving. Perhaps the best way to define it is through actions, and not just words. Being a conservation photographer...