On Wednesday 4th December, we held a sold out event at the Royal Geographical Society hosted by WFN Ambassador Alastair Fothergill, Producer of Netflix’s ‘Our Planet’.
Alastair gave an emotive talk on the making of this epic series, casting light on how today’s natural history documentaries are filmed, and highlighting the conservation work taking place behind the scenes to protect the vulnerable biodiversity showcased. As Alastair put it, “Nature is no longer a nice to have – it’s a must have.”
Alastair was joined on stage by 2015 Whitley Award winner Jayson Ibañez of the Philippine Eagle Foundation. The ‘Our Planet’ film crew visited Jayson’s project, and his team helped them to get the incredible footage of Philippine Eagles featured in Episode 3, ‘Jungles’.
Jayson spoke about his work, and the impact of his Whitley Award win. With fewer than 400 breeding pairs remaining, the Philippine Eagle is Critically Endangered and is the rarest bird of prey in the world. Jayson, his team, and the indigenous communities he works with are giving this magnificent species and its forest habitat a fighting chance for survival.
In closing, Jayson expressed his heartfelt thanks to the audience and to WFN supporters for all that he’s been able to achieve:
“I believe that what WFN is doing is working. People like me are catalysts of change in our regions and our local communities…Your generous support provides the momentum that keeps us going.”
For anyone who was inspired by last night’s event, or who would like to support conservation leaders like Jayson this holiday season, below you can find a few ways to get involved this week:
The Big Give
There’s still time to double your impact through The Big Give’s annual Christmas Challenge, a fundraising campaign running until 10th December! Through the Big Give, you can help WFN unlock matched funding to enable grassroots conservationists to protect endangered wildlife and their habitat.
To make a donation, visit our campaign page, which will be open for donations until 12pm on 10th December. Every donation, no matter the size, will help us to reach our fundraising target of £80,000. Thank you to everyone who has already generously contributed to our campaign!
Silent Auction open
We are auctioning a copy of the Our Planet book, signed by Sir David Attenborough and Alastair Fothergill, until Friday 6th December at 2pm.
Funds raised go directly to WFN, enabling us to support outstanding conservation leaders around the world. To place your bid on this one-of-a-kind item, please email [email protected] with your name, contact information, and bid.
Thank you to everyone who attended our event, and to Alastair Fothergill, Jayson Ibañez, our volunteers, our donors, and our event sponsors Wicked Wolf Gin, Fever Tree, and Showtime Photobooth for their support.
