Wendy Hapgood, Director of the Wild Tomorrow Fund on How They‘re Saving Wildlife
Wendy Hapgood Discusses the Ways the Wild Tomorrow Fund is Innovating how Animals are Saved
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Wendy Hapgood is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Wild Tomorrow Fund, a wildlife conservation charity dedicated to saving threatened and endangered wildlife and their habitats.
Wendy believes that biodiversity loss and climate change are the two most critical issues facing our planet today. In 2015 she left Wall Street behind to dedicate her life to the protection of the environment and biodiversity. She completed her Master’s Degree in Sustainability Management at Columbia University’s Earth Institute where she studied climate change science and policy, researched the intersection of poverty and rhino poaching, uncovered illegal ivory in New York City, and studied new methods for financing the green economy.
Connect with Wendy
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wildtomorrowfund/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wildtomorrowfund
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wildtomorrow
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Wendy Hapgood: But I feel like when you are really emotionally connected to this project and it was truly an emergency, I think it really pushes you to do what you think is impossible.
[00:00:15] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Hello and welcome to the innovative mindset podcast. I am. Izolda Trakhtenberg on the show. I interview peak performing innovators in the creative social impact and earth conservation spaces or working to change the world. This episode is brought to you by brain FM, brain FM combines the best of music and neuroscience to help you relax, focus, meditate, and even sleep.
[00:00:36] I love it and have been using it to write, create and do some. Deepest work because you’re a listener of the show. You can get a free trial head over to brain.fm/innovative mindset. To check it out. If you decide to subscribe, you can get 20% off with the coupon code, innovative mindset, all one word, and now let’s get.
[00:00:59] Hey there [00:01:00] and welcome to the innovative mindset podcast. My name is Izolda Trakhtenberg, I’m your host, and I’m really happy that you’re here. And I’m also thrilled and honored to have this week’s guest. And you’ll understand why as soon as I tell you a little bit about her, Wendy Hapgood is the co-founder and chief operating officer of wild tomorrow fund wildlife conservation, charity, dedicated to saving, threatened, and endangered wildlife.
[00:01:22] And their habitats. And that last part is a really important part of what Wendy and her group, what they’re doing when he believes a biodiversity loss and climate change are the two most critical issues facing our planet. Today in 2015, she left wall street behind to dedicate her life to the protection of the environment and biodiversity.
[00:01:41] She’s singing my song. She completed her master’s degree in sustainability management at Columbia university’s earth Institute, where she studied climate change science and policy research, the intersection of poverty and rhino poaching uncovered illegal ivory in New York city and studied new methods of financing.
[00:01:59] The green [00:02:00] economy. Ah, Wendy, I’m so honored that you’re here. Thank you so much for being here. Well, Thank you
[00:02:06] Wendy Hapgood: so much as older for having me. I’m really excited to be on your show. Wow.
[00:02:11] Izolda Trakhtenberg: I you’re, you’re you’re living my dream life in many ways. It’s exactly the kind of thing that I have always wanted to do.
[00:02:18] So I’m so glad that you took it and ran with it and are doing it right. I love you. You left wall street and you, you went, that’s it. I’m changing my whole life around and I’m doing this now. I’m going to dedicate my life to saving wildlife and saving protected lands. What sparked that for you? What, what made you go?
[00:02:36] Okay. You know what? I’m making that change. I’m going to totally transform the way I live and I’m going to innovate things on my own terms. Yeah.
[00:02:43] Wendy Hapgood: I mean, it was a really big jump. And I have to say that this feeling grew within me, that sort of, it happened over years where I had the sneaking feeling of, you know, unhappiness or just dissatisfaction with, with life and what I was doing with my life.
[00:02:58] And I was successful [00:03:00] in finance. And I loved, I did like my job and the people I worked with and customers, but there was something really missing for me, which was sense of purpose. You know, I absolutely love animals and I feel like probably a lot of your listeners have pets that you just adore and it really starts there and, you know, hiking and.
[00:03:19] Starting to feel that I needed to do something about what I was seeing around me in terms of environmental destruction and climate change. And you know, people talk about ecological grief, starting to feel really sad about what was happening to the planet and knowing I wasn’t helping. I really big moment was I was actually working in Tokyo, Japan, and I was there for the big earthquake, which resulted in a nuclear crisis.
[00:03:46] So being on the ground in Tokyo and living there and worrying about if my boss water was contaminated, which by the way it was and you know, it just, it was such a hosted apocalyptic scenario that I was living and [00:04:00] what really shocked me. How a lot of people weren’t that concerned. They, after it went well and people from outside of Japan and friends, weren’t, well, no one died, you know, after this nuclear crisis.
[00:04:13] But whereas I couldn’t stop thinking about how we poisoned the earth forever and that wasn’t being spoken about. And it really was a sort of symbolic moment. And I felt complicit in it as someone living in the city using, you know, that’s all the power being generated for that’s what the nuclear power was needed for.
[00:04:33] So I felt really complicit in this poisoning of the earth. And I felt very guilty about when I left later that year to, to, to come to New York about not being here. Both people that were, you know, refugees, internal refugees from that crisis and thinking about how we poison the land and, you know, I saw it with my own eyes up Mishima.
[00:04:53] So that really was a huge moment in my life. I was thinking, what can I do? And how can I help. [00:05:00] Being a part of the destruction. Then in New York, I met my now husband, John Stewart, who is the other co-founder of wild tomorrow fund. He was in a similar place in life. He was an advertising executive here in New York.
[00:05:13] It creative director also loved animals and was in a place like me. What next to do in life and actually make a difference and help animals in nature. So that was nice. I don’t think I’m not sure I could have done it all on my own. Definitely helps to have a partner and to embark on this big journey together.
[00:05:32] So that’s what we did in 2015. And then personally, I felt like I needed a little more background and I love studying. So that’s, I went and did my masters at Columbia, which was Columbia university, the earth Institute. Gave me, I felt like a little more confidence and background in, in sustainability and environmental problems and climate change science and all kinds of really fascinating things.
[00:05:55] So that helps me on my journey as well, to feel ready, to really [00:06:00] switch careers and focus a hundred percent on saving the planet.
[00:06:07] Izolda Trakhtenberg: I’m taking that all in. I sometimes take these little pauses cause I’m like, I’m overwhelmed. That’s amazing. So, so here you are. You’ve, you’ve made the decision and you came out of with your masters. And w I’m I’m so fascinated. What did you do next? How did you, how did you decide, you know, what we’re going to buy land in South Africa and what were the steps that you took to make that start happening?
[00:06:35] I imagine the bureaucracy is monumental.
[00:06:38] Wendy Hapgood: Well, again, I think we took it step by step and when John and I started Walton were fun. But we also felt like buying land and saving habitat as much as we knew that that was the really big overarching issue in the same way that climate change kind of hangs over everything.
[00:06:55] Habitat loss also kind of drives so much of the [00:07:00] environmental loss and destruction we see today. But that, that, that would be a huge thing to start with. So when we started well, tomorrow flung, we started in 2015. Really just with small things, we were asking friends, family for $50 to buy boots for Rangers, because what we saw on the ground in kazoo, in a town, South Africa, which is where we’re focused.
[00:07:23] Was that government reserves in particular were super under-resourced they’re in charge of protecting incredible biodiversity, some of the last big tusks elephants in the world. Really under-resourced trying to fight the rhino poaching crisis and, you know, here’s these amazing. People who very dedicated boots on the ground, but they don’t have good boots.
[00:07:45] So from New York, we’re like, well, what, well, we can, we can help with that. You know, or like really bad, basic things. Like they couldn’t go out on patrol if the tires had punctures and of their, you know, for their patrol [00:08:00] vehicles and their budget was didn’t allow them to purchase more that month, you know?
[00:08:05] So it was like a week. Fundraise for that. And we can involve people in New York who would love to, you know, it’s very direct impact to say, if you give, if you can give us $50 donation, we will personally have our team on the ground, buy those boots and deliver them. So that’s how we started. Nice and small step-by-step.
[00:08:27] And it was 2017 when the land kind of happened, which I say was a land emergency where. One of our partners on the ground told us about this piece of land that was up for sale and it had two offers on it from pineapple farmers. And when you know, these farmers want it to extend their existing fields of kind of fools.
[00:08:52] And if you could see a picture of it, it’s just. You know that typical monoculture farming that just extends out forever in these [00:09:00] endless rows of, you know, sameness and it’s terrible for biodiversity. And you know, this land that was up for sale had, had been farmed, you know, cattle and a little bit of pineapples, but it kind of being left to go wild and it had zebra on it.
[00:09:15] It had, you know, hippos that would come from the river and at nighttime feed on this land and. We went to see it and that was it. You know, our hearts were kind of stuck. We were like, we have to do something. We cannot allow this to happen. What they would do is, is if the pineapple farm was it totally clear?
[00:09:34] It, we mean to tract as a chain, pull out every single tree, run off the wildlife. I mean, turn it into that. Very does it like monoculture of, of pineapple, commercial, industrial agriculture. So we were pretty determined to do that, but you know, imagine it was over a million us dollars, the price tag, and we’d been asking for 50, a hundred dollars donations, but I think those [00:10:00] emergencies make you really step up.
[00:10:01] And we felt that we needed to try and also we know or knew that. There’s a lot of wealth in New York city. And there’s a lot of people who care deeply and, you know, we just needed, we knew we just needed to meet the right people and tell the story and, and kind of bring them along in this journey. And we also met with the landowner.
[00:10:24] She was an older lady living in the city, near Johannesburg. She didn’t live at the farm or anything like that. This land that was her old fence. And we kind of pleaded with her. We said, you know, we’re a charity. We don’t have a million dollars sitting ready to make this deal happen. Can you give us time?
[00:10:43] You know, this will be your legacy too. So. Thankfully, she agreed. And she gave us five years to save, to raise all the money, to save the land. Actually that deadline’s coming up next may. So we, we still have a little way to go. But in the meantime we bought another piece that was at risk, just [00:11:00] down, just nearby.
[00:11:01] So. You know, created this card or vision. You know, in the meantime we established we felt it was extremely important that the land was owned in South Africa, not by a us charity. So we set up a wall tomorrow, fund South Africa. No affiliate. So it’s a registered charity in South Africa. So the land is owned locally.
[00:11:21] Yeah, so there were a lot of legal steps and meetings and learn a lot of learning along the way. But I feel like when you’re really emotionally connected to this. This project and it was truly an emergency. I think it really pushes you to, to do what you think is impossible. So we’re really proud that we were able to save it and then you know, start working on restoring it and rewilding it.
[00:11:48] Really exciting and super hopeful. And I think it transformed us as an organization too. And that’s really now our focus. We still help other ranges in the region and we do buy boots for Rangers, [00:12:00] but the major focus now is really saving that land, protecting it, restoring it and rewilding it.
[00:12:08] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Yay. Okay. Wow.
[00:12:10] I wish I had pom-poms or something. So I could be doing a little cheer for, for everything that you just said. I’m you are, you are absolutely seeing my song. I’ve worked for NASA for over 20 years, doing earth science and environmental education outreach all over the world. So, so hearing from you that, that you, that that is your active.
[00:12:31] Sort of profession that, that, that, that, that, that it’s possible that you can have these, make these inroads and have such an impact on a place that probably a lot of people never think about, which, you know, raising that elevating the visibility of, of the need to say. Habitat in places like South Africa is incredible.
[00:12:55] And I, I know people in South Africa who are working to educate [00:13:00] people in South Africa about that importance too. And so I’m wondering a little bit about, like you said, you made, you have this relationship with the owner of that land, which is incredible. What, what other kinds of. Innovative ways. Have you made relationships with people and government people in South Africa to make this, to make these inroads?
[00:13:22] Wendy Hapgood: It’s a great question because you know, nothing is ever done alone. It really is teamwork and something that was really important. And just to give a little more background into this, this land is in a biodiversity hotspot. It’s one of 32 places around the world. That’s recognized for really high level.
[00:13:39] By diversity. So just this massive array of amazing life from insects to furry things, you know so it was really important to save this land is also right next door to a world, heritage wetland, UNESCO, world heritage park. So again, another great reason why this piece of land in particular, in this area, it was really important [00:14:00] to protect it.
[00:14:00] So that was. Re that we really needed kind of local support with was this legal declaration. So turning what was kind of designated as farmland into what is now officially a nature reserve. So we reached out to a local south African NGO or conservation outcomes who are experts in navigating this process.
[00:14:27] It’s a Amazing initiative under the south African government, where they recognize that the state national parks can’t do it alone. They need private land owners. You know, it could, could be farmers who want to protect a small piece of their land that has an endangered frog. You know, they, they want to empower Private landowners to also contribute to conservation, sort of have this framework called the biodiversity stewardship program.
[00:14:52] And we worked with conservation outcomes to kind of navigate that whole process and an amazing environmental attorney [00:15:00] who is in Durban who helped us with that. And what’s really, I think, amazing about our project and what makes it stand out is it’s truly collaborative. So. I mean, we had donors from a lot from New York some on the west coast in other countries give $20 towards this dream or, you know, a thousand dollars or $50,000.
[00:15:23] So it’s been, you know, literally thousands of people who’ve made it possible to save this habitat. And then on the ground, we partnered as well with landowners who were. Like kind of next door to us. So literally sort of inside the borders would have had a little small 20 hectic piece. So, you know, to really expand habitat, it means to term, you know, dropping fences, you imagine a South Africa land, I guess like suburbia in America, it’s all fenced.
[00:15:50] So just biggest squares. And so for wildlife to have a better chance at fighting back against extinction, you know, you need to really open up that habitat [00:16:00] and Save the wild space and extend the wild spaces. So we worked with our neighbors and kind of brought them along in this journey of creating a nature reserve.
[00:16:09] So this it’s a collective reserve, the land that waltz Marfan’s today. Two separate pieces and it’s about 83% of the total. And then we have three other private landowners who, you know, they have the conservation vision too. They were excited about being a part of it and dropping their fences and opening up their land to also be habitat for wildlife.
[00:16:30] So, you know, that was a really a collective. Project and we worked through this legal process and that was declared last month, which is super exciting. So the land is officially a nature reserve now in South Africa. That’s
[00:16:45] Izolda Trakhtenberg: incredible. And I, first of all, wow, again, and second of all, you said some things that I am super curious about, you said.
[00:16:57] We were you, you were talking about breaking, you [00:17:00] know, breaking defenses and, and removing them so that, so that wildlife can, and I know I’ve heard the same thing with like unbroken canopy cover for certain birds that they need, that they need, you know, that tree canopy cover in order to feel like this is their habitat.
[00:17:16] What. What are the species that are either most impacted or, or the ones that are in that now nature preserve, which I think is incredible, that are going to benefit the most from those kinds of fence lists areas.
[00:17:34] Wendy Hapgood: Well I would say, oh, you know, oh, wildlife benefits from. Having more space. We’re a huge fan of EO Wilson, who is a very famous American biologist and his book is called half earth.
[00:17:48] And he did all of a sudden he did all the math for us, but basically if we save 80% of life on earth, you know, 80% of species on earth today, we have to. [00:18:00] Kind of protect 50% of land and Marine spaces for wildlife. If we don’t do that, if we can’t get to 50%, we can’t say. Species, you know, we can’t save 80% of species on earth, basically wildlife and animals need, especially the longer ranging ones.
[00:18:19] So the ones that really need space or the big megafauna. So elephants lions, leopards. Hyena, you know, the ones that re African wild dogs, they need a lot of protected space to range. They have bigger ranges, but wild space connected wild space. So, you know, when you talking about birds, it’s the canopy.
[00:18:39] They need like a card or a green card, or to reverse these spaces that we’ve, we humans have basically kind of cut up old. Space on our planet and dissected it with farms and fences and housing developments. And so wildlife can’t cross from a to B and they need to do that so they can [00:19:00] exchange genetic information and without that populations become essentially inbred and cannot survive long longterm.
[00:19:07] So that’s why card or is, is so important and why connecting wild space. Super important. Yeah. And, and the vision for our land. So now it’s a nature reserve. It’s 3,200 acres which is about 1200 hectares. And I like to give people a frame of reference. That’s like four times central park. So, you know, in a way it’s big.
[00:19:30] In the grand scheme of things is kind of relatively small, but why it’s so important is that it acts as a card or so this land that we’ve protected and stopped from being destroyed and joined together with neighbors and opened up wild space. It lies between two very big existing wildlife reserves.
[00:19:51] One side is the money wanna, it’s a home to a very well-known. Wildlife reserve called [00:20:00] pin the private game reserve. They’re amazing. When it comes to conservation, they’re home to one of the most important cheetah breeding sites in South Africa. They’re doing really good job. They are. WWF black rhino range expansion sites.
[00:20:13] So that means they’re so good at keeping the rhinos safe that they actually they’re black rhinos, which are critically endangered. They’ve increased in number so much so that they could give those rhinos to other reserves where they were lost and start to repopulate. Wow. Black rhinos in other reserves in Africa, they recently actually sent Jordan.
[00:20:32] With the two, I think Malawi to help repopulate giraffe. The, so they’re doing an incredible job, keeping wildlife safe and being able to help, you know, other places. And then on the other side of the land that connects, you know, a, to B as a card, or is the UNESCO world heritage, you see ma mango Lisa wetland park.
[00:20:51] I mean it’s name and Zulu means a place of wonder. It is a natural wonder, you know, of global significance that. [00:21:00] Incredible. It’s got the biggest hippo pod in the breeding Cod in South Africa, over 500 bird species you know, and this card, or it will open up. So our long-term vision is dropping fences on both sides.
[00:21:13] So that wildlife from. The Pinta, the reserve inland the elephants, the rhinos can actually traverse through our card or to iSimangaliso and it goes all the way to the ocean. So yeah. Eons ago, you know, that little wildlife in South Africa also used to migrate the wildebeest would migrate through there.
[00:21:34] You know, this will create a path for wildlife to, to move again. And that’s incredibly important in coming decades with climate change where wildlife will be. The conditions where they are, will change. They need water, they’ll move to two. They need to be able to move, to find water and resources.
[00:21:53] So, you know, we’re excited. That’s our big, big vision. And that’s why this land is so important.[00:22:00]
[00:22:02] Izolda Trakhtenberg: A
[00:22:02] Wendy Hapgood: shock to you again is older.
[00:22:03] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Yes, no, yes and no, I’m, I’m actually just full of sitting here going, I’m so grateful you’re doing the work you’re doing because yeah. I mean, without, without a way to move. Where they need to move in order to survive. And dare I say thrive. They will die. It’s that simple.
[00:22:22] Eventually they will die. So I’m, I’m in, I’m grateful that that was the, that was the word that was coming to mind is as I was listening to you talk, and this corridor is going to is, and is going to be something that, that allows for that movement. But then you mentioned something earlier that I, that I wanted.
[00:22:44] Touch on. You said the word rewilding and what that, the stuff that you, the things that you’ve been talking about up to now have, have been about the animals that are already out in the wild w is rewilding something different than that. And if so, what [00:23:00] is it and how does it impact that that notion of habitat that protection?
[00:23:05] Wendy Hapgood: That’s a great question. So Rewilding I have to say is probably what I love most about what we do. It’s so hurtful. So it, and it can mean a lot of different things. It could mean bringing back to some people rewilding, maybe Maine bringing back long extinct animals. I mean, what we’re doing is, so we save the land, we protect it, we start restoring it.
[00:23:25] And a lot of animals will make their way back naturally, but there’s some bigger, usually the larger spaces. You know, they’re not just going to arrive, they’re still fences. So you have to literally reintroduce them. So all rewilding is really the re-introduction of native wildlife that would have existed there before, but has, you know, been gone for some time.
[00:23:49] So it’s super exciting. I know when we, when we save the land, the first piece, one of our ducks. Loves giraffe. And that was her first question. When can we get dropped [00:24:00] off? And all of this is guided by ecologists and science. And yeah, we, we introduced re-introduced giraffe for the first time in 2017.
[00:24:11] It was super exciting. You see them arrive, jump out of a truck and like literally run for it. You know, I can imagine it’s quite stressful to be in a truck that wild off, you know, and and then running free on their new home. And it’s so powerful. It’s such an inspiring image or thing to it. And also for our donors to see what we did.
[00:24:33] I like to say rewilding kind of sells itself. You know, we, we needed to do it. We needed to get this wildlife. And it’s very strange for most of us that in South Africa, you need to buy. Usually those animals, you would have to buy them, which is, seems so strange to us. Like, what do you mean you can buy a giraffe and how much has the giraffe and what do you mean?
[00:24:54] You can buy a zebra and, you know, I think zebra absolutely incredible. And the idea that there is sort of a [00:25:00] market price, $350 per zebra just seems so cheap. So you know, when our donors and supporters heard that I like we’ll all buy a zebra. And so that was a really cool connection for them and for us as well, too.
[00:25:15] Help fund our rewilding work. It really funded itself. And every person who donated to help us literally purchase as an individual zebra, an individual giraffe, they had the chance to name them and you can tell the difference, giraffe and zebra there, their patents are unique, like a fingerprint. So we have ID Oliver, giraffe.
[00:25:37] We have a draft ID kit. Playing spot the difference, you know, looking at the patterns and figuring out who is who. So, yeah, we have 14, actually 15 resident draft now. And over 30 zebra every year. Now we have babies born, which again is proof of this concept. You know, if you can save land and, and join it with neighboring areas and [00:26:00] re-introduce wildlife You know, nature will then start taking care of itself.
[00:26:03] And we’re seeing zebra, foals being born and huge moment for us was our first baby giraffe being born on this land that would have otherwise been pineapples. So rewilding, you know, it’s really is a mix of restoration, ecological restoration, and then re-introduction of wildlife. What we mean when we say rewilding.
[00:26:24] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Okay. First of all, I want to help by a zebra, right? Yes. Or a giraffe or a cheetah or whatever, whatever it is that whatever it is, because, because yes, I, I will actually, that will be my, my birthday fundraiser this year. I’m going to tell people that I want to raise money so that I can buy like two giraffe and have them be rewilding in the wild tomorrow.
[00:26:46] But no seriously, because this is one of those things where. That’s not something I’ve. Ever thought about or known was even possible. And so again, lots of gratitude from my end, because, because it’s a [00:27:00] way for people like me, who probably are never going to start their own wild tomorrow fund to, to.
[00:27:07] Participate in a way that, that you would find helpful. And that brings me to my next question. What sort of help does the wild tomorrow fund need from people, private citizens, someone who’s listening to this podcast who gets fired up like I am now who wants to help? What kind of help do you.
[00:27:24] Wendy Hapgood: Well, we would love help.
[00:27:25] We still, as I mentioned, that first piece of land we still have a deadline to meet a fundraising goal to actually fund finish the purchase. That’s in the next may. So we love to equate things down to kind of bite sized chunks. A one acre is about 990 us dollars. So if anyone wants to sponsor an acre, it’s a, it’s an amazing gift or a legacy kind of a gift to someone.
[00:27:50] Then we have also volunteer trips and I think it’s super powerful for those who can and would love to join us in the field in [00:28:00] South Africa perhaps next year. We have volunteer trips, so we bring 10 people at a time over to South Africa for two weeks. And then you can. Individually apart of everything we’re doing and see the region and see the wildlife and, and participate.
[00:28:15] Hands-on, it’s really kind of, for those who, where conservation isn’t going to be, their full-time job, you can, you know, be a part of conservation truly for, for those weeks. And, and it’s really powerful. I mean, it changes people’s lives. That’s how In a way, how we started well, tomorrow fund was John had been volunteering in Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa.
[00:28:36] So it really changes people’s lives. And we find volunteers come back to New York and they don’t want to just. That’s it. Thanks. I had a great holiday. They really continue on with us as supporters and keep helping. So yeah, we, we would love more support and funding and help. And I love that for a lot of our supporters.
[00:28:57] It’s very personal, you know, they really feel a [00:29:00] part of what we’re doing and what I find truly beautiful for those who sponsored wildlife reintroductions. It’s really interesting to see what they named their animal often. It’s a pit. So there’s a lot of dogs that are, you know, running around in central park who have a namesake in, in Africa, but sometimes it’s departed even people, which I think is very moving.
[00:29:21] You know, that idea that. Created a gift in their name. That’s now a zebra running free. So yeah, we would love more help.
[00:29:30] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Oh, that’s fantastic. I sign me up. I’m absolutely going to do that. And it’s interesting because the, the words that, that are coming up in my head, as I’m hearing you talk are hope and connection yes.
[00:29:44] That you feel connected to. This place in South Africa, if you’re in New York, if you’re in LA, if you’re in London, if you’re in wherever and you can actually make that connection, what do you think makes those two words and, and maybe I’m totally off, [00:30:00] but what, what makes hope and connection so important in wildlife conservation and habitat restoration and the work that you’re doing?
[00:30:08] I think it’s sort
[00:30:08] Wendy Hapgood: of everything. I, you know, we started out as well. It being overwhelmed by. The destruction. It’s very, it’s easy to get depressed and feel down, you know, thinking about the planet and you know, this mass loss of. By diversity. You know, as it’s called the mass extinction, the six mass extinction of life on earth, and this time it’s driven by us, not by an asteroid climate change and all that grief like that.
[00:30:38] I think that sadness does help motivate people to do something, but it can also be really overwhelming. And I think what’s important about hope is people need hope. I think we’ve seen it all the messaging about climate change, you know, I don’t know. The negative messaging. You know, the warnings is really important, but I don’t think it’s moved people enough.
[00:30:59] I think [00:31:00] we all need to see that we can do something, you know, that your input, that you’re, you know, everyone feels very small. We’re like a drop in the ocean of these global challenges, but actually you can really make a difference. And if it’s one zebra or coming on a volunteer trip, you know, each volunteer.
[00:31:20] Raises $2,000. That’s two acres, you know, you can, you, it, it makes a real difference. And I think people feel inspired by that hope. And, you know, in some ways our projects far away from most people they’re in New York, but that connection and feeling connected to the project, to the land, to those zebras.
[00:31:40] It’s really important and that dream that maybe one day they’ll be able to come and see for themselves. You know, I think it’s really powerful. I’m more positive. I think we’re, we’ve all had a rough year and yeah, I just think that it’s a more positive and powerful message to move people, to take action.[00:32:00]
[00:32:03] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Again, I’m thinking. Wow. Yeah, I, it is true. We, the world has had a rough year and yet what’s interesting to me about that is that during that time, when we were all. As many of us as could be sort of staying at home, things came back, you know, the, the, the weather changed wildlife started. There were pictures of wildlife on, you know, sort of different critters resting and relaxing in, in what were normally parks and places where you would just not expect to see wildlife.
[00:32:39] So there’s, there is this there’s this. The notion that I always come back to honestly was they were here first. And so for me, it’s not just us making room for them. It’s us. I had captain Paul Watson on my show, just on the show just a little while ago. And he was saying, you know, one of the [00:33:00] things that, that bothers him is the word stewardship.
[00:33:02] He, he doesn’t think that stuartship is the way it should go. He’s like we belong here. We’re part of it. We’re not overseers. We don’t have dominion. We’re part of this whole entire cycle and process. And so, so with, with the work that you’re doing, it seems to me like that kind of connection goes beyond.
[00:33:19] People feeling connected. It’s, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a connection to the biome. It’s a connection then to the earth. And if you can, do you have any stories of that kind of realization or that kind of, of moment of truth, if you will, for either from yourself or from your husband or from people that you’ve worked with,
[00:33:42] Wendy Hapgood: I’m just faint.
[00:33:42] Well, I think about that, it does, I think, bring us back to. The concept of rewilding and another way of thinking about rewilding. Rewilding ourselves, meaning reconnecting humans to nature. And exactly [00:34:00] like you’re saying, and captain Paul Watson kind of a paradigm shift from seeing ourselves as having dominion and like.
[00:34:08] Power over nature to being a part of nature, more of a eco centric approach and, and restoring kind of the whole ecosystem. And that includes us too. So, and repairing that connection between ourselves to care more about nature or and to give, I see it as giving space back to nature to bird, you know, they belong.
[00:34:34] Equally as we do, we’ve taken so much away that they need, we need to give space back or we’ll lose them all. You know, I think about where this heatwave and just the little things, the birds that died from it was too hot, you know, and, and I feel. That’s all, you know, we’ve, we’ve closed that with, with our agriculture and our emissions and how climate change [00:35:00] links back to the biodiversity loss.
[00:35:02] It’s all accelerating. So we really need to act now, or we will lose, you know, I, I think how devastating to not have elephants on the planet, how will you explain that to your children? And how do people explain that the animals that like grew up within their storybooks don’t exist anymore? We didn’t care enough.
[00:35:21] So I think rewilding, the human spirit is a big part of it. You know, for me, I think it came in steps, like rather than kind of a sudden aha moment, more of a buildup and a realization. And yeah, I th and I think going from helplessness to empowerment, you know, and knowing it’s possible to restore. Some of the damage we’ve done and, and actually, you know, having this vision for the planet, that’s 50% from nature.
[00:35:52] That’s a big goal, but I think the more you are in nature, the more you appreciate it. [00:36:00] And so I would say, and I think COVID, you know, a lot of people spent time in parks and nature. Cause there was, it was such a relief in a way. A welcome response for us. And I hope that one of the positive benefits of that is more of a, of a love of nature and then desire to protect it.
[00:36:18] So I’m hoping
[00:36:23] Izolda Trakhtenberg: hope seems to be the word of the day here. And it’s interesting because I know for myself, when we were during lockdown, One of the things that I needed to do was feel the sun on my face. Like I couldn’t just sit in the house, so I had to be out and, and it, even if it were just to walk outside, there’s a tree, there was a tree right here.
[00:36:47] Our apartment and I would walk outside and I would say hello to the tree because it, it gave me that sense of connection. And that’s one of the things that it takes us back to ancient stories when people [00:37:00] were really part like knew that they were part of nature, part of the earth, part of a process of this whole biosphere.
[00:37:07] And it sounds to me like your mission. In part, at least is, is that in addition to stemming biodiversity loss is, it’s kind of, have you found that that’s, that that’s an outcome that, that the people who are involved really get connected on that deep level?
[00:37:26] Wendy Hapgood: Yeah. Like two, something like that. Maybe weren’t really into nature or conservation before.
[00:37:34] Huh? You know, come on this journey with us and then become essentially conservationists, you know, at heart. I think that’s really powerful. I mean, our, one of our major donors and on the board, you know, initially he was thinking he would spend his philanthropic time on helping with poverty, which is of course a really important topic, but it was [00:38:00] his dog, you know, like he had a room.
[00:38:02] Strong connection with his pet that made him think more about wildlife. And he went on safari and his wife sort of used, like, you know, maybe you should think about, you know, working with Watson more fun. And he’s been super helpful or transformative for us and the connections that he’s brought. And I think about that, that he wasn’t someone who thought that wildlife and habitat conservation was sort of his thing we need.
[00:38:27] Find more of those people where it’s you know, they it’s education and exposure or, you know, being a part of this project is very inspiring and then people get sort of caught up in it, which is great. I think we need more people to connect to nature. And is it through, I think it can be through your pet through that.
[00:38:48] So. Very personal connection between a human and an animal and seeing them as, maybe as an individual and important, and then maybe through the park and appreciating the trees [00:39:00] and what they bring for us. And then that kind of connection expands from local to, to more global issues. So yeah, we need to figure out something, it’s a question I’ve thought about a lot.
[00:39:12] How, why do I care so deeply? You know, it has been a progression over time to the point that I would give up, you know, sort of dedicate my life to this and saving nature. And then other people, you know, they’re maybe distracted or they don’t care as much. How do you convince, I want to say convert, how do you inspire other people to connect more deeply to nature?
[00:39:38] So that’s a big question. And I, I, I think. Being out in nature is the key and go, you know, going for those hikes or coming on a trip to South Africa, of course, super powerful and helping out with conservation, you know, really being involved. And I think it really grows from there.[00:40:00]
[00:40:03] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Yeah, I know
[00:40:04] Wendy Hapgood: poor Wendy. You’re going, is she still
[00:40:06] Izolda Trakhtenberg: there? I’m not sure what’s going on. I’m sorry. I’m just, I, as, as you were, as you were speaking, I was there again. I had my little metaphoric pompoms out and I was cheering you on and it’s when I use, as I said, I used to work for NASA and I used to do the.
[00:40:22] Participate in these environmental education workshops where we traveled all over the world. And one of the places we traveled with South Africa and did, did a workshop and the people who came were all teachers and other educators and, and who were going to be learning about these environmental protocols so that their students could study.
[00:40:40] Local ecosystems. And so when you were asking that question, I’m like, yeah, I so need to, I do this thing called the earth lady where I go into schools and I teach about the soil and, and, and the atmosphere and the water bodies and by, and the biosphere, as far as like the actual the plants that grow up near their school so that they can get into it.
[00:40:59] And now [00:41:00] I’m like, okay, I need to obviously add an animal component. What are the animals in your local area? And. What kind of wildlife is there, what might you find? And so, and it translates up into what’s out in South Africa, what’s out in, in Namibia, what’s, what’s in central Asia. There are lots of places where we can be looking at this.
[00:41:20] And so the question that I have for you about that is your, if you could have anything you wanted for wild tomorrow fund to do what would be the, the vision, what is the big, this is what would look like. Doing what we had dreamed of.
[00:41:39] Wendy Hapgood: Was a big question. I don’t ask
[00:41:41] Izolda Trakhtenberg: small questions.
[00:41:44] Wendy Hapgood: I, I can see if I think 10 years ahead or maybe, you know, we’ll be, you know, we’ve done a lot more than we thought we could in a short amount of time.
[00:41:51] So maybe five years ahead, you know, this Cardo project in South Africa is really the first. So the dream is for that to be. [00:42:00] Completed the car or open and working as a, as a card off for wildlife connecting these two huge reserves together, 80,000 acres to 800,000 acres in connecting that green space and the elephants can migrate again and, and we’ll debase, you know, that will be like a really huge achievement and a dream come true.
[00:42:20] And then, you know, of course it will. It’s, it’s ongoing. It’s like, then the results. The vision is for it to be self-sustaining. And then the question is what’s next? So, you know, I see this future where we have, you know, our it’s called the Wila nature reserve in South Africa, then All the places on the planet that threatened then an immediate risk of destruction and conversion for agricultural development, where there’s really threatened species and saving that land.
[00:42:51] And it kind of repeating a process to save it, protect it, restore it. Rewild it. I mean, it could be mad, I guess. Yeah, it could be. I read about [00:43:00] place in Philadelphia, super important habitat for fireflies and without this habitat. Incredible spectacle. One exists in the United States would be incredible.
[00:43:11] You know, just having, being able to.
[00:43:17] Show you what’s possible with restaurants. That would be my dream and
[00:43:22] Izolda Trakhtenberg: bingo. I love it to show what’s possible with restoration. I think that’s that’s. I think that’s great. So first of all, Wendy, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. So totally going to start getting people to, to sponsor zebras and giraffes.
[00:43:36] That’s going to be wonderful. Absolutely. I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna see what I can do. And I also believe in starting them while they’re young. So we’re going to get kids on board.
[00:43:45] Wendy Hapgood: We had some kindergartners, did some, made some slime and sold slime and rice. Like I think it was $400. So amazing. People have little big, you know, it’s really amazing what people can do and they really want to, [00:44:00] so, yeah.
[00:44:00] Izolda Trakhtenberg: And, and, and also, I mean, one of the things that, that we, that I’ve sort of really learned in this last hour of chatting with you is that.
[00:44:08] There are things I didn’t know were possible. And so now that I know that they’re possible, and now that if you’re listening to this episode, now that you know, they’re possible, the call has been made, take, take up the banner and get Ranger’s shoes or something like that, or, or sponsor zebra. I think that those are the kinds of things that we can be doing that we didn’t, I didn’t realize that it could be done.
[00:44:27] So I’m really grateful to you, Wendy, for sharing all that. And if someone wants to get involved, how do they find you? Where, where can they find out about the wild tomorrow fund to get involved, to sponsor a zebra, to name the Seabrook? I would name a zebra Kimba after my beloved cat. I know that I would, but how would they do
[00:44:47] Wendy Hapgood: that?
[00:44:48] Okay. Well, for them. Get in touch or find out more about what we do that can head to our website, which is well tomorrow fund.org. You’ll see there there’s stories and [00:45:00] also volunteer menu. So you can look at, they can look at, you know, what trips we have coming up. Our animals sponsorships are more sort of direct because we have to be actually sort of reintroducing more or.
[00:45:14] W each year we have zebra born, for example. So you can actually sponsor babies either instead of actually not needing to purchase some right now, because they’re kind of rewilding themselves. There will come a time where we need to buy, purchase more wildlife. So yeah, just, there was a contact us on the website at the bottom and.
[00:45:34] Email will come to me and to John and we’d love to be in touch. And yeah, we, we love at are a lot of us supporters say they, when they talk about the work of Baltimore fund, they say we did this. So it’s really, truly is a community it’s very personal. I like to say as well as one degree of separation between, you know, you, the donor and the future.
[00:45:56] Because there is a sort of between sphere and then yeah, we’re, you [00:46:00] know, in a way we’re, we’re small team doing big things and we’re really proud of what we’ve been able to do. And so it is quite personal and yeah, we welcome. We love meeting new people. We need to meet new people. So please reach out.
[00:46:12] We’d love to hear from you. And everybody can help from a kindergartner to a high school kid to, you know, a retiree. So please. Well to help the planet. So hope you’ll join us.
[00:46:24] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Absolutely. Well, I’m going to put all of that information in the show notes and Wendy, I know that you have to run, but I do have one question that I ask everybody who comes on the show and it’s a silly question, but I find that it yields some very interesting results in the question.
[00:46:37] Is this, if you had an airplane that could sky write anything for the whole world to see, what would you say?
[00:46:46] Wendy Hapgood: Ooh, that’s a love. That’s an awesome question. I would say.
[00:46:51] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Hmm.
[00:46:54] Wendy Hapgood: Love nature. I don’t know. I it’s about moving people to really care. So rewild your hot, [00:47:00] something like that. And then people have to think, what does that mean?
[00:47:02] And then go actually read what does rewilding mean? And then come on board with us. So pretty wild it’s rewild and leave it. And then people have to be like, what on earth?
[00:47:14] Izolda Trakhtenberg: And so you do. At wild tomorrow.fun.org. Right? So that’s right. Absolutely. Well, Wendy, thank you so much. What a phenomenal conversation.
[00:47:26] I’m so grateful that you were on the show. I really appreciate you taking
[00:47:29] Wendy Hapgood: the time. Thank you so much to Zelda for having me in and giving us this opportunity to tell the story while it’s more fun and rewilding to all your listeners. It was such a pleasure. And thank you so much. My
[00:47:40] Izolda Trakhtenberg: pleasure. If you’ve listened to this episode, go get involved with wild tomorrow fund.
[00:47:45] Find a way to volunteer. Find a way to sponsor a baby zebra. How could you not want to sponsor a baby zebra? Come on. This is his older Trakhtenberg for the innovative mindset podcast, reminding you to listen, learn, laugh, and love a whole lot.[00:48:00]
[00:48:03] Thanks so much for joining me today. I really appreciate you being here. Please subscribe to the podcast if you’re new and if you like what you’re hearing, please review it and rate it and let other people. And if you’d like to be a sponsor of the show, I’d love to meet you on patrion.com/innovative mindset.
[00:48:21] I also have lots of exclusive goodies to share just with the show supporters there today’s episode was produced by Izolda Trakhtenberg and his copyright 2020. As always, please remember, this is for educational and entertainment purposes. Only past performance does not guarantee future results, although we can always hope until next time, keep living in your innovative minds.
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