There are so many amazing women working in conservation and we’re lucky enough to be featuring some of them in this year’s Earth Optimism Festival. Here are some of our highlights for this International Women’s Day.
Sarah Smith is the Property Manager at National Trust’s reserve Wicken Fen. She will be discussing their innovative 100 year vision to expand the reserve and encourage nature-friendly practices on adjacent land. You can watch her presentation from 29th March here.
Also on 29th March, award-winning author of H is for Hawk and celebrator of the natural world Helen Macdonald explains why writing her new book Vesper Flights has made her optimistic for the future of our planet.
Discarded plastics pose a major threat to marine biodiversity but Heather Koldewey (Head of Marine and Freshwater Conservation at the Zoological Society of London) explains how she’s protecting the ocean from plastic pollution. Join her on 30th March.
Fancy a trip to the Maldives? Of course! On 31st March Lisa Sabry explains what’s being done to secure one of the world’s most important sites for sharks – and why local tuna fisherman are proving powerful conservation allies.
We hop over to Mexico on 1st April, to join Women of the Land. This film tells the story of a group of women in a natural area in Mexico, who, inspired by their children, decide to get involved in the conservation of the golden eagle. Plus you can hear more from Mariana Martinez del Rio, who worked on this project in a live Q&A about how we can save species at 8pm, also on Thursday 1 April.
One of India’s leading conservation biologists Dr Krithi Karanth discusses how big creatures are staging a comeback in some of the most densely populated places on Earth. Join her on 3rd April.
Finally, also on 3rd April, we’ll be holding a live Q&A featuring two young women working on some ground-breaking conservation projects. Georgina Mayhew works for the Endangered Landscapes Programme, which works across Europe to restore natural ecological processes, species populations and habitats for a better and more sustainable future. Georgie Bray is Farm Manager at RSPB’s Hope Farm in Cambridgeshire. The RSPB purchased Hope Farm 20 years ago, to identify and demonstrate how to farm profitably while addressing the loss of farmland wildlife. Since then there has been a remarkable recovery and return of declining farmland populations, including a 400% increase in butterflies.
This session will be chaired by Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England.
Main image: Women of the land
