Let's Talk Conservation

I am very happy to introduce Daniel Ward this week, a fellow Bangor Alum and friend. We discuss different approaches to conservation - what works, what isn’t and what direction could we go in. Change maker, big picture thinker and solution finder Dan is a forward thinking ecologist based in the UK. Dan has worked for the last decade across on the ground action, landscape scale projects and government policy and now works as a micro Think and Do Tank to drive the thinking and conversation around what successful conservation and ecosystems look like and how to get there. Over his time in conservation Dan has realised that conventional conservation thinking and models aren’t working, and that large scale ecosystem restoration/rewilding, using nature based solutions and challenging shifting baselines is the way forwards. Dan is a systems thinker that helps people and organisations understand these big systems so that they can make decisions and choose sustainable solutions that help people and planet. Check out his social media to find out more @danward_org

Going halfway around the work this week to the beautiful Seychelles archipelago talking to Dr Nirmal Shah, Chief Executive of Nature Seychelles. Nirmal is a well-known figure in the Seychelles conservation scene. A biology heavy upbringing in the Seychelles and education have earned him having an encyclopaedic knowledge of Seychelles biodiversity. He was formerly the Assistant Director of Fisheries Research, the Director of the Seychelles Conservation and National Parks service as well as the Managing Director of an environmental firm, ENVIRO where he worked on projects covering almost every aspect of environmental management. Nature Seychelles boasts some incredible conservation success stories, along with incredible programs and initiatives that are at the forefront conservation management. Check out everything Nature Seychelles involved with in the links below:
Website: http://ww.natureseychelles.org/home
Twitter: @NatureSey
Instagram: @naturesey
Facebook: @natureseychelles

This week I am joined by my friend Dr Hernani Oliveira to talk about bats! Hernani is a tropical conservation ecologist with fieldwork experience across different environments, including: the savannahs and rainforests of Brazil, the dry and rainforests of Costa Rica, the lowland and pre-montane forests of Cameroon, and the limestone forests of Rota Island. During his expeditions, Hernani worked with a range of techniques (DNA barcoding, mist nets, radio telemetry, and camera recording systems) and statistical analysis (geometric morphometry, network analysis, and ecological analysis) to understand the response of bat communities and populations to natural and anthropogenic changes in their environment. Bats have been one of the main groups that he has studied, but he has been involved in research and publications across a variety of mammalian species. He has a big passion for environmental education and bringing awareness into the conservation issues that the world is facing nowadays. Hernani’s photos and videos of rare species of bats he has encountered, are being used to bring people closer to the species and places that he works. Check out the links below to learn more about Hernani’s work and the wonderful world of bats.
Website: https://hfmoconservationandscience.weebly.com/
Twitter: @HernaniFMO
Instagram: hernanif77
Articles: Protecting the Cerrado: where should we direct efforts for the conservation of bat-plant interactions?- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-019-01793-w
- The Response of Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to Habitat Modification in a Neotropical Savannah - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1940082917697263
- Improved survival for an albino - https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2302?af=R

This week we head to California and meet Kimberly Ray, Founder and CEO of Marine Conservation Network (MCN)! An original water baby from Florida, Kimberly was always in the water and became fascinated with the ocean and the mysteries of what waited below the surface. This love eventually led to a serious interest in scuba diving, getting a degree in Marine Biology, and working hands on with marine life. at the aquarium in Santa Barbara. Kimberly became known as the Shark Lady because of her relationships with the smaller sharks. The sharks would be hand-held and brought to the surface for the public to get a closer view and to touch. During her time there, Kimberly found that there was disconnect between scientific conservation and the general public. So she started talking and relating to the public on a more general level and in doing that, she found there was more retention and more connection. It was this realisation that led to Marine Conservation Network being born six years ago. Now, MCN, is going global on building an ocean community by interpreting a common language for all to be on the same page. MCN have two departments that are working to spread the word of ocean conservation:
1) Networking through videos and interviews, promoting the lesser-known conservation organisations that no one knows about and educational videos, and
2) Our Youth Ambassador Program - youths of ages 8 to 15 who are actively making an impact on saving the oceans, doing well in school, and spreading the word of all forms of ocean conservation and education. For those who are continually successful and actively participate in the program, we offer a scholarship to the college of their choice when they graduate high school.
To find out more about MCN and their mains for conservation check out the links below:
https://marineconservationnet.org/
twitter: @MCNnetwork

What a guest to open with! The remarkable Cristina Zenato; ocean and cave diving guru; shark whisper; speaker, writer and conservationist. Cristina is known for her special relationship with her local sharks and her passion for promoting the protection of all sharks in the world. Her current projects include shark photogrammetry and identification of sharks’ mating and birth areas; creating interactive and 3D cave maps, and using photography and videography of these uncharted areas in the Bahamas to light for the public. In 2019 she founded the nonprofit People of the Water www.pownonprofit.org, an organisation to widen the conduction and distribution of training, education, research, and studies relating to water, ocean and environmental issues, affecting both the people and the animals of the oceans and caves. After twenty-seven years Cristina is still diving and pushing the boundaries of our knowledge. Cristina has been inducted in the Women Divers Hall of Fame, the Explorers Club, the Ocean Artists Society. To find out more about Cristina, her sharks and caves and the wonderful People of the Water foundation follow the links below:
Website: www.cristinazenato.com
Website: www.pownonprofit.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5OxtcCvv9wNe-VbasQqj-A
Instagram: cristinazenato; peopleofthewater
Twitter: @CristinaZenato