What has caused a 60% loss of animal populations over the past 50 years? How are we still losing 20,000 to 30,000 elephants per year?
At this talk recorded at the RGS Explore Weekend in 2022, biologist and explorer Dr Niall McCann addresses these burning questions and discusses his experiences from around the world working in biodiversity conservation. After studying conservation for so long, he decided that the most important work he could do was to take meaningful action, as well as just learning about it.
What does this talk cover?
How can we work with local communities to understand the importance of conservation? What about the plight of Africa’s megafauna? These are just two of the questions that Niall discusses with the Explore Weekend audience in this geographically diverse address.
From his experience of narrowly avoiding being defecated on by an 18-foot anaconda in Guyana to protecting elephants in Zimbabwe’s Chizarira National Park, Niall leads the audience through a storied history of what a few motivated individuals can do – and have done – to preserve and protect as well as aid our world’s endangered species and environments to prosper.
Niall leaves us with a poignant question: “Conservation is about protecting our planet, and if you’re not for our planet then what are you for?”
If you’re looking to make a difference in tackling biodiversity loss, Niall’s advice is to find a project that fills you with passion, connect with the people who can make that project a reality, and take bold action to do your part.
Key moments
- 02:07 – Understanding biodiversity loss
- 04:07 – Human interaction in relation to animal extinction (people are the problem and the solution)
- 04:53 – Discovering conservation through the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation
- 05:42 – Mapping the biodiversity of an unchartered river in Guyana
- 07:12 – Stumbling upon an 18-foot anaconda
- 08:32 – An entire river slated for mercury poisoning to enable gold mining
- 10:22 – Personal survival or conservation?
- 11:52 – Preserving Cusuco National Park in Honduras
- 13:22 – Practicing versus studying conservation
- 14:17 – The plight of Africa’s elephants
- 15:12 – The success of Chizarira National Park
- 17:22 – We need to do more to really save the world
- 18:12 – This is why fieldwork is so important
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