Poaching, Pesticides & Politics

Date: 23rd November 2016
Time: 6:30 pm
Venue: Royal Geographical Society, London, SW7 2AR

Our 2016 Conservation lecture ‘Poaching, Pesticides and Politics, protecting the small and the mighty’ was held on the 23rd November 2016 at the Royal Geographical Society and attended by WFN’s patron HRH Princess Royal and WFN’s Trustee, Sir David Attenborough.

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The 2016 Conservation Lecture was hosted by wildlife filmmaker, Alastair Fothergill, with over 450 people filling the auditorium to hear about the challenging work of Kenyan Whitley Award winners, Paula Kahumbu and Dino Martins.

Paula brought home the crisis that elephants are facing in Kenya and the emerging threat to Nairobi National Park. Dino called for a reduction in the use of harmful pesticides and demonstrated how sustainable agriculture can lead to increased biodiversity, yield and income for farmers.

The speakers highlighted the importance of adopting a landscape-level approach to the cross-cutting conservation issues that pollinators and elephants both face, and the need to engage with stakeholders at all levels, from grassroots to political.

WFN Trustee, Sir David Attenborough rounded up the evening by emphasising the role of media in conservation and its importance in engaging the public through stories and drama but also hard-hitting facts about the issues the planet is facing.

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We hope those of you who were able to join us left having learnt more about WFN’s mission to support grassroots conservation leaders and were inspired by the talks.

Photographs of the event are available here and a highlights film and will be available on our website soon.

We hope to see you again at the 2017 Whitley Awards Ceremony when we will announce our next group of #ConservationHeroes.