From meeting elephants in mountain gorilla habitat, and making the first study of elephants underground, in the caves of Mount Elgon, Kenya, to lobbying for apes and elephants at the UN, Ian Redmond has been an elephant advocate for half a century. Why? Elephants are keystone species in the natural habitats of 50 countries – 37 in Africa and 13 in Asia – and yet their numbers have fallen from tens of millions to under half a million in Africa and a tenth of that in Asia. The conservation of elephants and their habitat is essential for climate stability and healthy, biodiverse ecosystems; this could be financed by payment for ecosystem services attributable to these mega-gardeners of the forest and savannah.

Speaker biography:
Ian Redmond is an independent wildlife biologist and conservationist, renowned for his work with apes and elephants. He serves as the Born Free Foundation’s representative in FSC, was an Ambassador for the UN’s Convention on Migratory Species 2010-2024, is Head of Conservation for www.Ecoflix.com and a co-founder of www.Rebalance.Earth

As well as research into gorilla parasites and underground elephants, Ian has led anti-poacher patrols, guided film crews and special interest tours into close encounters with apes, elephants and erupting volcanoes. His focus now is on the role animals play as #GardenersoftheForest, helping to fight climate change and biodiversity-loss, and lifting neighbouring communities out of poverty through payment for ecosystem services of animals (PESA).