Wild spaces keep shrinking and humans’ gluttony and greed tip the scales against the creatures we share this planet with. It can feel like pushing elephants up a hill, but Michelle Henley is up to the task.
Everyone’s got an opinion, but talk is cheap. Dr Michelle Henley hears enough of the pontificating from armchairs in conservation circles. It’s the kind of noise she shuts out so she can get on with her work.
“We have to get away from the belief that ‘if it pays it stays’, so we don’t just look at the direct monetary value of something to measure its importance. Elephants are more than their tourism potential or when they are traded for their tusks, skin and body parts,” says Henley. “We have to stop thinking in these exclusive, compartmentalised ways and instead we can find smarter ways to coexist with wildlife and to see these natural havens as our lifeblood.”
Another component of this coexistence strategy, Henley says, is the potential to sell these crops as produce to city consumers. With the right kind of marketing and messaging “of buying a conservation story” it gives consumers more power in ethical buying options. The returns can uplift rural farmers while helping to keep elephants safe and wild spaces and biodiversity top of mind for more people – even those in urban jungles.
Homing in on the pachyderms to anchor her conservation agenda came from her mother’s soft spot for the gentle giants. It is elephants’ sentience, the wisdom and power of their generational memory and what we humans may regard as ancient intuition that Henley connects with profoundly.
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