Remembering Wildlife Series by Wildlife Photographers United. Founded/produced by Margot Raggett. Remembering Wildlife is the home of the charity book series which includes Remembering
Elephants, Remembering Rhinos, Remembering Great Apes and now coming in 2019, Remembering Lions. Today we are delighted to meet and introduce you to Margot Raggett, a British wildlife photographer and conservationist who is raising huge awareness of the issues facing wildlife through various mediums and the funds to help protect them.
“You can leave Africa but Africa never leaves you”. Once you have been there, the sights, sounds and beauty of the country remain forever in your heart. You went on your first safari to Kenya in 2000 – how true is that quote for you? It is like it was written for me! A friend actually left me a message the other day saying that I am an African born elsewhere but now I finally found my way home, which really moved me. I’m not ignoring that Africa has its many challenges but the place, the people, the wildlife, the light…just everything about it pulls me back, time after time. How did you first get started in wildlife photography and who/what inspired you to take it up as a career? I had fallen in love with and been going on safari for at least 10 years before I started taking any serious wildlife pictures. But it was when I signed up for a safari led by Jonathan & Angela Scott in the Maasai Mara in 2010 that I took my first pictures, mentored by https://www.margotraggettphotography.co them. Just one week had me m/
completely hooked and also very aware of how much I had to learn, but I threw myself into courses and safaris from that moment on. My dream was to find a way to spend more time on safari, photographing the wildlife I loved and at that point I had no idea where it would lead me.
The Remembering Wildlife series was launched in 2015 starting with elephants and then followed by rhino and then last year, the great apes. How did the Remembering Wildlife Series come to be born? It was in 2014 and I was staying at Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Northern Kenya when I was woken up by the sound of hyenas going crazy. At first light we went to explore and found the carcass of a poached elephant. I was so upset and angry I felt impotent. But I came away determined to do ‘something’ and the idea of a book of images donated by multiple photographers started to form in my head. I began to run it past a few photographer friends, starting with Angie Scott, just to see if there was any appetite for such a project and to my amazement everyone said yes. We launched our first Kickstarter to fund Remembering Elephants in 2015 and again, I wasn’t sure if that would be successful or not, so when we hit our target in 12 hours I was astounded. We went on to publish Remembering Elephants in September 2016 and the response was amazing.
You make it very clear that 100% of the profit from these books goes to conservation, so far your books have raised more than £460,000. Can you tell us about some of those projects that have been funded through the sales of your books and how you make sure that funds are used responsibly? I started by partnering with the Born Free Foundation for the elephant book and allowed myself to be guided by and learn from them about the projects I felt I wanted to support. In that first year we gave money to projects like Born Free’s work in Meru and the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, as well as supporting Born Free’s efforts at CITIES. But towards the end of that year I identified the first project of my own while visiting Mana Pools – Bushlife Conservancy - after meeting Nick Murray who had set it up to run anti-poaching patrols. I was so impressed with his results and delighted to be able to support that too. With rhinos again, some were projects
recommended by Born Free but my confidence also grew when I went and met projects on my own such as ‘Saving the Survivors’ and ‘Wilderness Foundation Africa’, that I had a good instinct for NGOs worth supporting.
Saving the Survivors. Treating a rhino victim.
Meeting the pilot of anti-poaching patrols run by Wilderness Foundation Africa in South Africa.
Meeting an anti-poaching sniffer dog courtesy of Wilderness Foundation Africa
I always take up references, scrutinise their work and results and ensure we keep in touch to track progress of how our funds have been spent. I partnered with Born Free again for apes, as well as a lower level partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute, both of whom we supported, but again I’ve been able to support other organisations such as Gorilla Doctors and EAGLE law enforcement
network, both of whom were recommended to me by friends whose judgement I trust.
Meeting an orphan rhino under the care of Saving the Survivors
This year for lions we are going to stand-alone rather than partner with anyone and run Remembering Wildlife Ltd as a ‘not for profit’. This means I have 100% control over which type of projects we want to support and I’m also able to respond very quickly when I see opportunities I want to support, unencumbered by the timing of financial years of charities I am partnered with. At the end of the day I want the funds we’ve raised out there working as quickly as possible, because time is not on our side when it comes to saving species!
This year you are releasing Remembering Lions. There are, sadly, many species that are struggling to survive and face huge issues. It must have been a tough decision to make but what made you choose lions for the next book? It is so hard, year after year, to make that decision as there are so many species in such great need of our attention. But I just felt that the time was right for
lions. So few people realise the trouble they are in and also that as an apex species, when they are affected, so is the whole eco-system too. Just recently I read with sadness about a retaliation poisoning of lions in a park that also led to the death of dozens of vultures who are also endangered. We need to support urgently projects, which are working to prevent incidents like that before it is too late.
Working to protect wildlife is not easy, there are great highs but an awful lot of very low moments. It can be overwhelming seeing the horrific treatment that our beautiful wildlife faces on a regular basis. What makes you get up in the morning and keep fighting? Sometimes I honestly feel like I can’t. But then I think back to that poached elephant where it all began for me. I think of the horror I felt knowing the suffering he would have endured dying from a poisoned arrow for many days and how I wanted to do anything I could to stop another elephant from going through that. Conservation has to be big picture and strategic, that’s a certainty, but that one elephant makes it personal for me and that’s what gets me through.
On a more personal level you are also always trying to help those you come across on your travels. One example of this is that in 2017 you visited Rwanda and had a very moving meeting with a homeless widow. For the past two years at Christmas you have championed raising funds under the name “The Christmas Gift of Light”. Can you tell us a bit about this project? Ah this was such a simple idea and I’m so happy that so many people have embraced it. I was at the end of a trip to Rwanda and on a local village tour when we were introduced to a widow who showed us a solar light that had been donated to her. She also showed us the kerosene light she’d been using before and it was explained to me how damaging they were health-wise (it is the equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, breathing in the smoke in a confined hut), not to mention the damage to eyesight or the cost of the kerosene. I asked how much the lights were and it was around $12 each, the cost of a cocktail in London where I’m from. I flew back home the next day and it was in the run up to Xmas and there were festive lights everywhere and it got me to thinking how obscene ‘wealth’ can be in the west sometimes when viewed through the eyes of a lady like that widow. Just one light for her can change a life.
So I started asking any family or friends who wanted to know what I wanted for Xmas if they’d consider buying me a bulb to donate in Rwanda. When I mentioned it on Facebook lots of people said they’d love to join in and the rest is history! We’re about to distribute this year’s bulbs and that will take us to 800 distributed so far to households around Volcanoes National Park where there are children due to sit exams that year. I’m just so grateful so many people got behind it and to the friends on the ground – Phil & Charlie Mason plus the team at Sabyinyo Silberback Lodge – who helped to make it happen.
At Voice4Lions, we believe that every single person can make a difference in this world, if they wish to. What simple things do you suggest people can do to help protect our wildlife for future generations and to make sure that their actions do not have consequences for wildlife? I think everyone has something to offer and that’s been demonstrated to me time-after-time, by the amazing volunteers who help me out. Whatever skills people have – from admin, to making jewellery, to painting or even just to handing out leaflets, there are always wildlife charities looking for help and support. So many people think an expensive volunteering trip is the only way to make a difference but someone giving me a day of their time to set up an exhibition is immensely valuable and part of a team effort that helps us achieve what we do. As someone said to me recently, find your tribe and work with them to the greater good! In terms of actions not having consequences on wildlife I think the biggest thing people can do is to become more informed and aware of the impact of what they buy. From insisting on the sustainability of products to reducing or cutting out animal products from their diet, small changes all add up. We thank you, Margot, for all the that you are doing to protect our wildlife and are delighted to be able to support your work. If, like us, you would like to contribute to the funding of the new Remembering Lions book and therefore conservation projects that will benefit them, then all the information you require is set out below. Remembering Lions on Kickstarter A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to raise funds for production of the book. All photos are given free of use by the photographers and 100% of profits go to conservation projects. Don’t miss out on ordering your copy and some of the amazing rewards on offer for donating. You can find the Kickstarter campaign here:http://bit.ly/Remembering_Lions For further updates please follow Remembering Lions: On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rememberingwildlife On Twitter https://twitter.com/remembrwildlife On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rememberingwildlife/ Or via the website Remembering Wildlife - https://rememberingwildlife.com/
Have you got any pictures of lions that are worthy of appearing in this year’s book? Once again there will be a competition for 10 places in the book. Keep your eye on Remembering Lions social media for details of the competition which will be run throughout April.
Launch of Remembering Lions – 17 October 2019 For those in the UK, the launch event for Remembering Lions will take place on 17 October at the Royal Geographical Society in London. It is a chance to hear presentations from renowned wildlife conservationists Jonathan & Angela Scott, as well as the researcher who was following Cecil the lion at the time of his death, Brent Stapelkamp. You will also be able to take part in a fundraising auction and get your books signed by the many amazing photographers who contributed their pictures to the book. Tickets will go on sale in May and can be bought via www.rememberingwildlife.com
There will also be a chance to view the photos in person at an exhibition that will run from Monday 14th October – Saturday 26th October at La Galleria, Pall Mall in London. As a taster of what is to come, here is a video showing last year’s highlights from the launch of Great Apes. https://vimeo.com/317832069
Remembering Lions, cover image by Federico Veronesi