Category: Conservation Influencers

USA Established in 1992, the Species Survival Network (SSN) is a global coalition of 80 NGOs dedicated to enforcing CITES’ regulations and to adding new listings in its appendices. The creation of this umbrella group was largely the initiative of Earth Trust’s creator Donald White, former Executive Director of Greenpeace Hawaii (1978-1987), and a founding… Continue reading Species Survival Network

France The 1960s film star Brigitte Bardot founded her eponymous Fondation Brigitte Bardot (Brigitte Bardot Foundation/BDF) in 1986. According to its website, BDF was recognised as a public body in 1992 and the Dalai Lama became an honorary member in 1995. BDF and Sea Shepherd have long been close collaborators in their struggle to put a stop to commercial… Continue reading Brigitte Bardot Foundation

Hong Kong Bloom Association (BA) was founded in 2005 by the French environmental journalist Claire Nouvian to, in Bloom’s words, ‘create a collective conscience to tip public opinion in favour of the protection of the deep sea’. BA believes that ‘emotion is the indispensable preamble to oceanic protection’. And BA says it exists ‘to reconnect… Continue reading Bloom Association

USA Founded in 1924, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is an independent accrediting organization for the world’s zoos and aquariums. Its rigorous standards are dedicated to supporting research and conservation of, and education about, in situ and ex situ populations of animal species. In 2020 just 217 zoos and aquariums in the USA met AZA’s standards… Continue reading Association of Zoos and Aquariums

Bloomington, MN, USA Species360 (formerly known as International Species Inventory System or ISIS) was founded in 1974 by 55 Zoos in Europe and the United States. According to its website, its mission is to ‘facilitate international collaboration in the collection and sharing of knowledge on animals and their environments for zoos, aquariums and related conservation organizations’. It… Continue reading Species 360

USA The Natural Resources Defense Council emerged on the back of a hard-fought legal battle to put a stop to a renewable energy project in the 1960s. The project in question was a proposed two-gigawatt hydroelectric power station at Storm King Mountain, New York, on the banks of the Hudson river. The litigants were a… Continue reading Natural Resources Defense Council

Mataro, Barcelona The Nakawe Project based in Barcelona, Spain, has been in existence since 2015. It describes itself as a small group of professionals from different sectors committed to the environment and humanity, who share a passion for the ocean. But the majority of its work is focused almost exclusively on just one species, sharks,… Continue reading Nakawe Project

South Carolina, USA The International Primate Protection League (IPPL) was founded in 1973 by Dr. Shirley McGreal, a British-born animal rights campaigner who was then based in Thailand. Its global mission is to counter primate abuse and international traffickers. It also operates a sanctuary for gibbons in the USA. From 1979 onward McGeal, as the boss… Continue reading International Primate Protection League

Washington, DC, USA The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) was founded in 1969 by Brian Davies, a Welshman who immigrated to Canada in 1995. Its original purpose was to stop the commercial hunt of seals on the east coast of Canada. Today, IFAW operates 40 countries, employing in excess of 300 people and is one of… Continue reading International Fund For Animal Welfare

Founded in Canada and USA At CITES’ meetings Sea Shepherd claims to be on the side of the angels in the fight between ‘good and evil’. On the side of ‘evil’, it believes, stand China and Japan, especially on the issue of sharks and their fins. But it directs most of its outrage against Japan… Continue reading Sea Shepherd