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National Geographic Society: Happy Birthday to of one of wildlife conservation’s greatest forces

Last month witnessed the 134th anniversary to the conception of the National Geographic Society. Today, the organisation is a household name. Under the umbrella of National Geographic, it’s various operating identities have become leading tools for education, disseminators of useful and otherwise underreported information, and, as aid facilitators, some of the most effective bulwarks against the exploitation of the natural world.

The nineteenth century, and how Europe found itself captivated by what it did not understand:

For the west, the 19th century was defined by exploration. Europe’s great powers, Russia and the United States were each semi-constantly employed in expansive exploratory efforts.

Politically, these increasingly far-reaching voyages always had the expansion of influence as, at the very least, an underlying motive. However, they were always enacted by individuals who, likely, had more personal goals as their driving motivation.

There was pride at stake. There was glory on offer. There were riches to be had and novel experiences to be brought home and bragged about. There were firsts to find and lessons to be learnt and learnt from. For the societies in a position to become so, the competitive drive of exploration absorbed them.

For the first half of the 19th century, the great exploring nations of the era occupied themselves differently. The Russian Empire explored the Antarctic seas between 1819 and 1821. The French involved themselves in discovering what little they previously knew of the Pacific Ocean. And the British Admiralty repeatedly attempted to locate the mythologised ‘north-west passage’, an open waterway, then largely impassable, between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

By the end of the 19th century, however, the influential nations of the day had turned their vast energies on the ‘Scramble for Africa’. On this continent, more obviously than those in the Artic and Antarctic certainly, influence was one of the more exciting driving motivators.

European powers’ ‘exploration’ of Africa has a long, storied and problematic legacy that may take centuries to completely unpack. The political influence-seekers of Europe’s gradual colonisation of Africa have a great deal still to own up to with regards to the domino-affect their incursion on the continent resulted in.

Perhaps unexpectedly, Europe’s influence-mongers of the later 19th century found that the actors they’d put on the ground often returned captivated by the continent they’d visited. The individuals who were a part of the ‘Scramble for Africa’ brought, as a European first, accounts of a continent that still, to-this-day, fascinates the globe.

Africa’s plant and animal species are some of the more exciting and, today, the icons of African wildlife are often the icons of wildlife in general. There are few creatures, for example, that can inspire the awe and imagination of every wildlife enthusiast better than lion and elephant can.

The National Geographic Society, its early beginnings and early intent

On January 13th, 1888, within this era of exploration and novel discoveries, an elite group of western academics and wealthy speculators who were interested in the lessons learnt from travel and exploration met for the first time. They gathered at a private club on Lafayette Square in Washington D.C.

Their purpose, self-avowedly, was to organise “a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge”. Two weeks later, on January 27th, the National Geographic Society was given its certificate of incorporation.

Regarding that aim, it is impossible not to recognise how successful the Society has been. Through their television channels, their social media accounts, their website and, of course, their monthly magazine, the National Geographic umbrella of organisations has opened the world’s eyes.

They have been the first to report on novel discoveries. They have consistently taken on the responsibility of uncovering and publicising hard truths about human activity. They have, also and in case we forget that our species is just as capable of the incredible as it is the exploitative, reported on impressive feats of human endeavour.

Perhaps most important of all, National Geographic continues to inspire, every day, a new generation of environmentally-conscious individuals.

National Geographic’s patronage of wildlife conservation:

Known, perhaps, but underappreciated is the fact that alongside all this incredible work raising awareness for the world and its ways, is the fact that the National Geographic group of organisations also bankrolls a lot of the operations that yield such important lessons to humanity.

With much of what is generated through its commercial arms, National Geographic grants have funded a huge variety of research and conservation operations.

In fact, without National Geographic-generated funds, Robert Peary would not have journeyed to the North Pole, Jacques Cousteau could not have uncovered the deep blue’s secrets and Jane Goodall would not have taught us what we now know of Chimpanzees.

With that list of achievements, and with a huge thank you for the passion that the organisation has fostered in us for the natural world, it is a great pleasure for us, at the Tsavo Trust, to wish National Geographic a happy (belated) birthday.

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