The world is filled with many outstanding people, but only a few give their time to making it a better place. Kristine Tompkins is someone making a difference, devoting than a quarter of a century of her life to saving the world’s wildlife and soon, you’ll have the opportunity to meet her.
The planet is at an ecological and climate change tipping point. Through human activities, we have impacted many of the life support systems and natural areas that are critical to our survival. Natural ecosystems continue to be under tremendous threat, through destruction and neglect.
In a recent message in August 2020 on the BBC from Sir David Attenborough, he says “Never before in the history of humankind has it been more critical to protect and nurture the natural world which is, after all, our home.”
One of nature protection’s greatest icons is a conservationist who stepped forward to protect the environment and wildlife by positive action and sheer determination. By doing that, she has demonstrated the intrinsic value of nature, humans dependence on biodiversity and the many necessities that ecosystems provide. This visionary leader is Kristine Tompkins, a pioneer of rewilding and large-scale conservation.
Kristine Tompkins and her late husband, Douglas (1943-2015) achieved unprecedented success as philanthropists with more than 25 years dedicated to saving wildlife and natural habitats in South America.
As the current president and co-founder of Tompkins Conservation and the former CEO of Patagonia, Inc., Kristine left the business world to protect wild beauty and biodiversity by creating national parks, restoring the wildlife, inspiring activism, and fostering economic vitality as a result of conservation. In 2018, she was named the United Nations’ Global Patron for Protected Areas, and she is the chair of National Geographic Society’s Last Wild Places.
Through Tompkins Conservation and their nonprofit partners, in collaboration with governments and fellow philanthropists, Kris and Douglas Tompkins have helped protect more than 14 million acres of parklands in Chile and Argentina, making them among the most successful national park oriented philanthropists in history.
Kris and the Tompkins Conservation were featured in the May edition of National Geographic in an article by the renowned science writer David Quammen, about the creation of Iberá National Park in Argentina, one of the most successful natural environment transformation projects of our times and one of many ambitious rewilding projects supporting the goal of preserving 30% of the planet by 2030.
In the Ibera wetlands, this means bringing back ten native species, including top predators like the jaguar and giant river otter. The example of Iberá is an incredible testimonial of what we can achieve when we take the collective decision of restoring an ecosystem on a large scale.
In recent times, humans have been instrumental in the consistent destruction of habitat and deforestation around the globe, in addition to hunting, poaching, trafficking and trading wild animals to extinction. All on an unprecedented industrial scale, never witnessed before in natural history.
Add to that invasive species, pollution and habitat alteration with a clear impact that is affecting wildlife directly. Scientists agree that today’s extinction rate is hundreds, or even thousands, of times higher than the natural baseline rate judging from the fossil record.
“The conservation of endangered species should be elevated to a national and global emergency for governments and institutions, equal to climate disruption to which it is linked”, states Prof Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University in a recent paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (ref.1).
Last May, as part of TED 2020 Uncharted, Kris Tompkins presented a call to reimagine the future of our planet. In the talk, titled “Let’s make the world wild again” she emphasises, “Every human life is affected by the actions of every other human life around the globe, and the fate of humanity is tied to the health of the planet. We have a common destiny – we can flourish, or suffer – but it’s going to be together.”
Through Kris’ journey to connect with nature and to champion nature conservation in spectacular settings in South America, we can all be inspired to protect, conserve and restore our natural world, by learning about these remarkable achievements of harmonising nature and communities.
On 23rd September 2020, Kris Tompkins will be speaking live from California as she reminds us why we must all come together to save the natural world and the systems of biodiversity upon which we all survive.
The event will be hosted by Satopia Travel and Journeys With Purpose, where Kris will be talking about her passion for wildlife, nature conservation leadership and the restoration of landscape-scale ecosystems through the work of Tompkins Conservation – one of the greatest nature conservation success stories of all time.
The virtual event is organised by Satopia Travel in partnership with Journeys With Purpose. The event will take place on Wednesday 23rd September 2020 at 8 am PST / 11 am EST / 4 pm BST / 5 pm CEST.
You can register for the free online event here.
Journeys with Purpose and Satopia Travel have partnered with Kris Tompkins and Tompkins Conservation to invite a selected group of guests to join Kris on a 6-day Hosted Experience in Iberá National Park, Argentina.
This exclusive opportunity is an incredible way for people championing conservation projects around the world to spend time with Kris and her team, to learn about her journey and experience. Guests can apply to get on the Guestlist and join Kris Tompkins in Argentina in 2021. Learn more about this experience here.
Ref. (1) Ceballos, G., Ehrlich, P.R. and Raven, P.H. Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation and the sixth mass extinction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1922686117.
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