Savannas
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About SNI
Founded by world-renowned wildlife photographers and conservationists Jonathan and Angela Scott, the Sacred Nature Initiative aims to create a movement to halt and reverse the loss of the world’s natural ecosystems, habitats and species.
Jonathan and Angela are award winning wildlife photographers and authors who have made their name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, recording every aspect of their existence in their drawings, photographs and wildlife television programs. They are the only couple to have won the Overall Award in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition as individuals. Jonathan and Angela have written and illustrated 36 books including their award winning children’s titles for Collins Big Cat and their inspirational volumes Sacred Nature: Life’s Eternal Dance and Sacred Nature 2: Reconnecting People to Our Planet.
The Sacred Nature Initiative evolved from Jonathan and Angela's work on the award winning book Sacred Nature: Life’s Eternal Dance published in 2016. Sacred Nature 2: Reconnecting People to Our Planet (HPH, 2021) takes the ethos of that first volume and applies it to the whole planet. The two books are the flagships for the SNI. As Angela says “Raising awareness about charismatic species such as lions and tigers, elephants and whales, catches peoples attention. But if these same creatures have nowhere to live how can they survive? If we protect the habitat the animals will prosper.” The book is divided into six chapters: savannas, forests, deserts, mountains, oceans and the polar regions that together with creatures great and small comprise the web of life.
An Urgent Mission
This is an urgent mission, amplified by the climate crisis and brought into sharp focus by the covid pandemic. An intact global ecosystem – what we call ‘nature’ – is essential for human well-being and survival. But a catastrophic loss of biodiversity is staring us in the face. Since 1970, we have lost nearly 70% of all the animals, birds, reptiles and marine life across the planet. According to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, ‘On our current trajectory, biodiversity, and the services it provides, will continue to decline, jeopardizing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals’.
The reasons for this decline are complex: population growth; land-use change; intensive agriculture; fencing and fragmentation; construction of roads, settlements and infrastructure; over-exploitation; mining; illegal wildlife trade; the introduction of invasive alien species; over-use of pesticides and fertilisers; pollution – all exacerbated by climate change itself.
These challenges have common cause in the tendency of human beings and their governments to judge everything only in human terms – without sufficient consideration of the wider environment in which we all live.
While many people intuitively value nature, it is clear that many decision makers do not prioritise a sustainable nature in their quest for development. There is insufficient action at global, national and local levels, and current models are not succeeding in reversing environmental degradation. No single intervention can tackle everything that needs to be done, but changing people’s attitudes and long-term thinking is a fundamental requirement.
An Innovative Approach
The Sacred Nature Initiative employs a unique brand of advocacy to influence people – leaders and citizens – to prioritise nature and wildlife conservation. We want to identify and create novel mechanisms that will change our way of thinking about and interacting with nature. We want to change the way people regard land as an inexhaustible resource. We want to change the way people value nature and wildlife as if they were solely an economic resource to be exploited. We want to help devise new models of conservation, since those relying, for example, on tourist revenues, have been shown to be insufficiently robust in the face of the covid-19 pandemic.
But there is good reason for optimism: while deforestation and the loss of grasslands, peatlands and wetlands contribute directly to global warming alongside greenhouse gas emissions, their conservation and restoration is considered to be one of the most effective ways to mitigate climate change.
Join Us
In this early stage, SNI is inviting contact from people and organisations who share our goals. We are looking for projects to support. We’re developing a membership structure to enable people to participate in SNI activities and to lead their own SNI projects. And we’re canvassing for funding both to run the organisation and to mobilise our own projects.
Sacred Nature as a Global Initiative
If we are to secure a better future for life on earth we need to think big, to protect entire ecosystems - communities of living organisms and the nonliving components of their environment, linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. While charismatic large animals like lions and elephants stir the imagination the best way to safeguard them is to ensure that they have sufficient space to live and thrive in the wild.
We need a new mythology with a global perspective acknowledging that life co-evolved with its environment. This vision is captured in the breathtaking image of Earth – all pristine blues, greens and whites – taken while orbiting the moon in 1968 by astronaut William Anders. ‘Earthrise’, as it became known, evokes a state of transcendent awe and identification with the planet. The Russian cosmonaut Yuri Artyukhin summed it up perfectly: ‘It isn’t important in which sea or lake you observe a slick of pollution or in the forests of which country a fire breaks out, or on which continent a hurricane arises. You are standing guard over the whole of our Earth.’ Our ancestors were unaware of the consequences of their actions. We no longer have that excuse.
Ecosystems are at the heart of the Natural World
Explore six fundimental ecosystems below to understand a little more about them and how we can help make a difference in ensuring their survival.
Final Thought
The therapeutic value of nature knows no boundaries, from ‘tree bathing’ trails in Japan and healing fragrant cypress forests walks in Korea that boost respiration while acting as mild sedatives, to therapy gardens in Sweden with their glass-domed greenhouses, water features, flower beds and vegetable gardens. Nature provides an antidote to the overstimulation caused by the urban environments in which most of us live. Two elements seem particularly potent at refreshing body and soul – the sight and sound of water and birdsong – just as contact with sentient beings like dolphins brings joy at a deep subliminal level to children with special needs. Spending time outdoors offers tangible relief to those suffering paralysing episodes of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while children with attention- deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) derive significant benefits from adventure-based school-time in nature, far healthier than administering drugs and forcing pupils to sit still in a conventional classroom. Believing that the only way to keep children safe is to keep them off the roads, away from woods and fields and open spaces for fear of abuse or violence is a great mistake. Communing with nature is not optional. It is a necessity, evoking a powerful sense of connection to the larger community of life, and allowing us to rediscover the sacred in nature.
Meet the Team
David Scott
Creative Director, specializing in Brand design and experience.
Tori Scott
Marketing & Events Director, specializing in social media, digital marketing and live events.
Steve Shelly
Writer, educator, strategist, advocate for the environment, spent 30 years living and working in Africa, now based in the UK.
Marley Sianto Sikawa
A Wildlife Conservation ambassador and the Tourism Promotions Coordinator, Tourism and Wildlife, Narok County Government.
Chris Parel
30 years at World Bank as project manager and consultant --especially governance, results based management.
Miriam Parel
Senior Executive, strategist, and fundraiser for American and International nonprofits
Aashiv Shah
Professional photography consultant, teacher, expedition host and conservationist; Architectural designer
Phil Thurston
Wave and oceanic photographer
David W. Macdonald, CBE FRSE Founding Director of the WildCRU (Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit)
Mike Eldon
Consultant, Director and Writer
Michael Turner
Born and raised in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Uses his professional skills to contribute to Africa’s economic and social development.
Sarah Kennedy
Co-Founder of Baark! Bahamas, Personal Assistant, Event Organizer and Fundraiser
Nicholas Meitiaki Soikan
Senior Social Development Specialist with the World Bank Group, since 2012.
Ranjit Majumdar
Global Non-Profit Advisor
Caroline Greenhalgh
Charity leader with significant global board level experience, with experience centred on supporting charities, philanthropists and funders to strengthen their collective impact by working collaboratively.
Abraham Joffe ACS
Award-winning Director, Producer and Cinematographer: Tales by Light (Netflix) and Big Cat Tales (Animal Planet)
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