Conservation

Conservation

Birdwatching in St Lucia

The search for the elusive Jacquot, the emerald island’s national bird

A few months ago I went birdwatching to St Lucia in search of the elusive Jacquot, the island’s national bird, and learnt about biodiversity, endangered species and the power of environmental activism.

My wife and I are nearing the end of an eight-hour hike up a vertiginous mountain trail. We are in the heart of Des Cartiers, the lushest rainforest Saint Lucia has to offer. Still no sign of the St Lucia Parrot. It is like searching for a green needle in a green haystack. Only harder. The problem is that this bird’s feathers are precisely the same shade as the emerald vegetation. These birds blend into the surroundings more effectively than chameleons.

The biodiversity on Saint Lucia is enough to make your head spin. This tiny island – just 27 long and 14 miles across – simply thrums with nature. It is blessed with an astounding variety of landscapes, from 3,000-feet mountains (including the awe-inspiring Pitons, the two volcanic peaks that erupted out of the Caribbean Sea millions of years ago and are now protected by UNESCO World Heritage Site status) to brochure-ready…

Conservation

Nature, wildlife and climate change

A story of peacock spiders, seabirds and koalas

The collective actions of animals over millions of years have shaped the planet’s climate to make it habitable for all. Our addiction to fossil fuels has become a smoke screen for this facet of reality. It’s true that humans are the major cause of climate change. However, the solutions aren’t simply about humans engineering new […]

Conservation

Everland and the Alto Mayo REDD+ Project

Changing the economics of deforestation

In 2019, I visited northern Peru to travel to an area of rainforest that had, at one time, seemed destined to disappear. I was part of a team supporting a successful conservation project in the Amazon, known as the Alto Mayo REDD+ Project, set up in 2008 by Conservation International and Peru’s National Parks Agency. […]

Conservation, Lifestyle

Rich Pickings

Food to save the planet

As a lifelong wildlife enthusiast passionate about animals, I’ve always been drawn to the countryside. I love living on a farm, being immersed in the folds of a rural setting where things look different every single day. I get to see rich fauna, like the kingfisher darting along the river, flocks of finches in the […]

Conservation, Travel

Sabi Sabi

Conservationists of the Future

The measures taken globally to control the propagation of Covid-19 have had a significant negative impact on the conservation efforts in Africa, exacerbated by other factors such as poor governance, poverty, increasing human populations and illegal wildlife trade, continue to drive wildlife declines across the continent. The main source of revenue to support conservation efforts […]

Conservation

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022

Natural History Museum, London

Launched in 1965, Wildlife Photographer of the Year was a competition held by the BBC’s Animals Magazine, with the hope of providing an incentive for the field of wildlife photography. The Natural History Museum joined forces in 1984 to create the event as it is known today, and they now fully own and run the […]

Conservation, Gourmet

Château Galoupet

Sustainability from Ground to Glass

When someone embarks on choosing a rosé, possibly not much thought is given to the actual making of the wine. Many decisions are based purely on taste; for some, the country of origin is the key; and for others, a historical or perhaps “fashion” element is the deciding factor. Two newly launched rosé wines this […]

Conservation

Jake Fiennes

Making space for nature

With a career in land management that covers three and a half decades, you’d struggle to find a man who knows and cares more about working with nature than Jake Fiennes. As Director of Conservation at the Holkham Estate in Norfolk, Jake is working with farmers, gamekeepers, gardeners and even visitors to safeguard the integrity […]

Conservation

Into the Cold

Understanding the changing nature of ice

In August 2021, our Adventure Correspondent Hugh Francis Anderson embarked on an audacious journey to recreate a Polar expedition on its centenary, alongside discovering more about the changing Arctic. While researching in the Royal Geographical Society in early 2020, I stumbled across the March 1922 issue of The Geographical Journal, where I found the original […]

Conservation, Travel

Sara Gardiner: Homecoming

By Hugh Francis Anderson

In the north-western tip of Zimbabwe, along a 15km private stretch of the Zambezi River, lies Matetsi Victoria Falls, a luxury safari lodge nestled within the 136,000-acre Matetsi Private Game Reserve. Founded by Sara Gardiner and her family in 2016, the award-winning lodge rests just 40km from Victoria Falls and has become renowned for championing […]

Conservation, Philanthropy

Head Of An Orangutan

A Masterpiece to Save the King of the Trees

Art for Preventable Extinction (APE) is a non-government, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to protecting and expanding the natural environment by supporting conservation programs that will help prevent the extinction of the world’s animal species. APE works with globally recognised artists who allow their art to be used for this purpose. On this occasion, APE and the […]

Conservation

Conservationists On The Prowl

by Julia Pasarón

Not all heroes wear a cape and most prefer to keep their identity anonymous. This is the case of the Alycats, a team of award-winning photographers that regularly donate their time and the fruits of their work to fight illegal hunting and poaching in Africa in support of Singita’s 100-year conservation purpose Uncontrolled hunting and […]