Hello, everyone! I’m a Max Planck research fellow at the University of Oxford, with a background as a disaster scientist and practitioner. Lately, I’ve been diving into the fascinating intersection of forests (and soil health) and their role in disaster risk reduction (DRR)—an area that seems ripe with opportunities for impactful work. This includes but is not limited to reforestation, food forests, biodiversity, etc. From mitigating landslides, floods, and droughts to enhancing ecosystem resilience and community adaptation, forests hold immense potential for reducing disaster risks. I’m eager to better understand how this potential can be unlocked, optimised, and implemented in practice. I’m looking to learn from, collaborate with, and contribute to those working in this domain, whether you're: A researcher exploring the ecological, social, or policy dimensions of forests and DRR, A practitioner implementing forest-based solutions for disaster resilience, An organisation or initiative that’s actively driving real-world projects in this space, Or anyone with related insights, synergies, or ideas to share! Some ways I envision this collaboration: Exchanging knowledge: Share your work, challenges, and findings—I’m eager to learn. Collaborating on research: From generating new ideas to co-authoring papers or conceiving innovative projects. Contributing to existing initiatives: Happy to bring my expertise and perspective to relevant projects. Let’s explore synergies and push the boundaries of what forests can do for disaster resilience. If this resonates with you, please don’t hesitate to connect—drop a comment or DM, or email me directly (patrizia.glick@ouce.ox.ac.uk). I’d be thrilled to start a conversation! Looking forward to learning and collaborating. 🌱✨ Patrizia

Dear Team! As a proud WildHub Community Advocate, I am deeply grateful to be part of this incredible organization for quite some time now. Balancing my role as an Environmental Consultant with other commitments is undoubtedly challenging, but the shared vision and mission of this platform for nature conservation keep me motivated and energized. WildHub has provided me with a unique space to contribute meaningfully to our common goals. Through this platform, I have been able to mobilize like minded people and professionals within the WildHub community. Since joining as a Community Advocate, I have successfully connected more individuals than I initially expected, helping to expand the reach and impact of this network. Thankyou for joining @Nurul Huda Abd Kadir @Dr. Parvaiz Ahmad Rather @Irteza Qayoom @Mr Mohammad Siraj Ul Haq @Ms Suhana Seerat @Ms Bilkeesa Farooq and others. In addition, I have contributed numerous articles and blogs focusing on hot environmental issues, with an aim to raise awareness and inspire action within and beyond the WildHub community. This platform has been instrumental in amplifying my efforts, and I am honored to play a role for change alongside such a passionate and dedicated community. Thankyou so much for this opportunity & platform @Thirza Loffeld  Best Regards, Suhail Bashir Environmental Consultant-United Arab Emirates

Hello Wild Hub Community:I'm a freelance scientist/independent consultant seeking work within the conservation sphere. I'm an American living in South Africa and most of my experience is in East and southern Africa. I have a wide range of transferable skills and I'm interested in conservation management, land & water restoration, livelihoods, NRM, and of course, wildlife. I've successfully worked remotely on past projects such as the Mountain Goat Molt Project and in conflict areas like Sudan with an INGO. I'm a reptile & bat enthusiast - assisting communities with wildlife safety, education, and when necessary rescue/rehabilitation. Ideally, remote work is preferred however, I'm also interested in short-term travel for work should that be necessary. I excel at working in a multi-disciplinary and mutli-international team. I'm also a strong communicator and collaborator. If you have something in mind, please reach out to me and I will gladly send you my CV. I'm a fast and enthusiastic learner. Let's collaborate!

Hi wildhub family, Please could you recommend organizations or donor institutions that fund story telling conservation projects? I am josephine from Kenya and currently working with Angaza Vijiji Ecoventures www.angazavijiji.co.ke as the projects coordinator and gender liason officer.  Angaza vijiji is an umbrella encompassing many segments and bat conservation is one of the segments. Currently we are in partnership with Bat Conservation International trying to conserve the Hildegarde's Tomb Bat along the Kenyan Coastal areas.  Previously, being an alumni of the prestigious Conservation Leadership Programme i have worked on the conservation of the Hildegardes Tomb Bat in Kilifi County, Kenya.  I am also a proud alumni of the Rufford Small Grants Foundation and the project was geared towardsthe conservation of the straw colored fruitbats in Western Kenya.  I am writing this because I am thinking of using a different approach to conserve the bats. I want to do storytelling conservation of bats ie interviewing people to get both the indigenous and modern stories about bats, their attitudes and perceptions about bats and myths surrounding bats. My main aim is to do videography and photography of the interviews share with locals, media stations etc to enhance public awareness about conservation. The above can't be achieved without funding proper or enough funding. I kindly request for recommendations about organizations  or donor institutions that fund storytelling conservation projects. May it be organizations that fund individuals or NGOs just any. Please share names or links to the funding institutions.  Kindly looking forward to your recommendations.  Regards. Josephine

Hello everyone, I have teamed up with a few other individuals and we want to do a unique conservation podcast, but do not know where to start, especially in developing a concept that is different from other podcasts. We are looking for someone experienced in this type of project and would like to seek online mentorship and guidance. If anyone would be willing to do that for us, we would really appreciate it.

A few years ago, I began offering Content Creator services on a contract basis as a side income to my full-time social media and communications work for conservation nonprofits. I started offering these services to earn a bit of money, but it quickly grew into something I loved and wanted to invest more time and learning into. One of the first steps of this journey was to create a contract – and it was super scary! I did not know how to protect myself with a contract, and I also naively worried about making myself “too difficult to work with” for potential clients if I had a lengthy onboarding process. While seamless onboarding processes are important, every Content Creator and social media marketer should protect themselves with a contract before creating any content for a brand. In this post, I’ll cover how to: Define your intellectual property within a contract Define usage rates within a contract Understand copyrights and fair-use doctrine regarding your content Define Your Intellectual Property Contracts for Content Creators are critical even for one concept alone: intellectual property rights. Your contract should not only explicitly state who owns the rights to all content produced as a result of your agreement but also who has the right to distribute it, where it can be distributed, who holds the rights to approve distribution, and when, if and for how long the content is licensed for usage as an ad. If these items are not clearly defined, a few of the things that can go wrong are: Your content may be a part of a long-lasting ad campaign, with no additional compensation offered to you. Imagine charging a flat rate of $250 for a piece of content, but then the company profits from using it as an ad for five years without paying you anything extra! Your content could wind up published on platforms it was not created for. In some instances, this could reflect poorly on your work if content is cropped incorrectly or unapproved audios are attached to your piece of content. In other instances, you could be completely unaware that content (perhaps with your face in it) is circulating on platforms unbeknownst to you and without your approval. You could lose the rights to your creation. If you have yet to define who owns the content produced during your contracts or how long it may be reproduced and shared by your client, you have not defined the parameters of your legal right to the content. Even if the content you produce includes copyright content provided by the client, you can insert a clause to cover sharing this content as a part of your portfolio (more on that later). The goal of defining intellectual property is not to keep the content “yours” and make it reproducible by you (aside from within your portfolio). Instead, we define intellectual property rights in order to prevent a client from stealing content and reproducing it, republishing it, and running it as an ad without first needing to agree on a compensation rate and usage rights with the Creator. What I include in my contracts: “The Creator retains all ownership rights to the Video and Photography content provided during the Organization’s participation under this Agreement (hereinafter: the “Creator Content”). The Creator Content includes all forms of media, including but not limited to, written, oral video, or images in whatever format presented, including hard copy, electronic, or recordings. All Creator Content will be deemed to be copyrighted materials under applicable laws. The Creator Content provided 12 months of usage rights to the Organization and is provided with a single-user license. The Organization will be responsible for all incurred loss, cost, damage, or expenses arising out of or in connection with the unauthorized use of the Creator Content, including all direct, indirect, and consequential loss, and will indemnify and hold the Creator harmless from all such unauthorized use of the Creator Content. Creator represents that it has the full right and authority to enter into and perform this Agreement and that the consummation of the Agreement and the provision of Creator Content contemplated herein do not violate any outstanding assignments, grants, licenses, encumbrances, obligations, agreements, or understanding between Creator and any other person or entity.   Creator represents and warrants that the Creator Content shall be the wholly original work of the Creator, and shall not infringe upon any intellectual property rights or rights of publicity or privacy of any third party or violate any laws. The Creator agrees to consider all copyrighted Video and Photography content provided by the Organization to be the sole property of the Organization, or property licensed to the Organization, as may be applicable. The Creator agrees not to repost, share, or distribute Creator Content containing the copyrighted Video and Photography content provided by the Organization on their social media channels. The Creator shall only share Creator Content that contains Organization Video and Photography content provided by the Organization on their own social media channels at the express written consent or request of the Organization. The Organization agrees to provide any such requests or consent to the following email address: __________” Define Usage Rates A significant difference you should remember when working with nonprofits is that they often work within limited budgets. While Content Creators in other industries may be able to charge hefty usage fees (ex., 30% of the base rate for every 3 months of usage of the content in an ad campaign), Creators in the nonprofit industry may need to offer more flexibility and understanding to their clients when creating this pricing. My standard practice when working with a company whose mission I support and want to aid is to include 1 year of usage rights with all content created as a part of my contract. Then, should they have great success using the content in ads, they can always come back to me and negotiate for continued usage. What I include in my contract: “In the event that the Organization wishes to repurpose the Creator’s Content and receive exclusive rights to the content for usage rights running paid ads on their website and/or other platforms, such request is subject to a 30% fee on top of the original content fee for a limited amount of time up to 12 months at a time. The Organization agrees to provide written notice to the following email address: ____________ for the usage rights request.” Understand Copyright and Fair-Use Doctrine A copyright is the legal right of a creator to control the reproduction and distribution of their original works. As the content I most often produce is a mix of provided content by the client and my own videos and production, the lines can quickly become blurred if not defined. I do not have the right to redistribute content containing copyrighted content from my clients, and they do not have the right to distribute the final product I produce without abiding by the compensation and usage rights defined in our contract. A creator could argue for the right to share the content they have created, regardless of the current owner, as a part of their resume or portfolio under the fair-use doctrine, which provides that a portion of a copyrighted work may be reproduced for specific, defined purposes. To protect my right to share the content I produce in my portfolio, I inserted a clause specifically pertaining to this. What I include in my contract: “The Organization agrees that at some point the Creator may share any and all content made for the Organization publicly on either their portfolio or website for professional purposes.” Conclusion In conclusion, these items should be reviewed as you work to develop your content creator contract while also researching and comparing your contract to those of other creators. Many wonderful resources are available to get you started on your contract-writing journey, but a favorite of mine is this blog post on LinkedIn. Happy content creating!

Dear wildhub familiy, I am working on a project using bats as bioindicators for water quality in Nairobi's water sources, and I am seeking like-minded individuals to help complete the project. The project will use bats as an indicator to assess water quality within the Nairobi river basin. We aim to investigate how bat's behavior correlates with water quality in Nairobi and its surroundings. The project also aims to conduct regular tests of water bodies from identified water bodies and use the findings to increase public awareness of the role of bats in the ecosystem. The Nairobi river basin is heavily polluted by sediments from informal settlement. The sediments varry from raw sewage, domestic refuse, heavy metals and organic pollutants. The toxity of the rivers possess a threat to human life and compromises ecological health. Bats are sensitive to nature especially regarding water qualitity. However, our percetion is that when bats disappear, it signifies water sources are polluted, and if bats disappear from urban areas, their absence as bioindicators may result in water attention to water pollution issues.  Thank you, Olusegun Uhuru

Hello everyone, I hope this message finds you well. I'm reaching out regarding a new development within our Bio-Innovation Africa project, specifically in the area of equitable access and benefit-sharing (ABS) for genetic resources and traditional knowledge. One of our European partner has expressed an interest in Ancistrocladus korupensis, a species highlighted in the literature as being found predominantly within Korup National Park, in the South-West region of Cameroon. Given the extensive work many of you could have been undertaken in Korup National Park or else, I wanted to connect with those who might have experience or insight regarding this species. In particular, we are seeking assistance to facilitate the ABS process for this resource at the park level and ensure that all protocols are followed in a way that respects community rights and biodiversity conservation. If you have any information on Ancistrocladus korupensis or are interested in collaborating on this initiative, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Your expertise and knowledge would be invaluable in making this partnership a successful and equitable one for all stakeholders. Thank you in advance for your consideration and support. Looking forward to collaborating with you! Warm regards,Gilles 

Dear community, Hope this finds you well. This is Samuel Tahinduka, I have completed my bachelor's degree of Geographical Sciences from Makerere University Kampala , Uganda specializing in physical geography and I am scheduled to graduate January 2025. I am passionate about conservation and specifically working with grassroot communities through integrating their indigenous knowledge on conservation with the modern scientific knowledge. During my dissertation, I analyzed the implications of wetland degradation on livelihoods in River Rwizi middle catchment in Southwestern Uganda. I have fundamental skills in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing and applied these skills during my dissertation. I also did my academic internship under National Environment Management Authority in the GIS/Remote sensing office directly supervised by the Senior GIS/Remote sensing officer. My key responsibility was field data collection and doing analysis of that data. I am currently doing a remote internship with United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification under the Informations team. I am kindly looking for a volunteering, internship or apprenticeship opportunity with any conservation body or project to apply my field data collection abilities, GIS skills and community engagement abilities.  I also want to advance my knowledge and skills through doing a masters degree and a PhD specifically in the field of GIS and Earth Observation/remote sensing in ecosystems conservation/management.  I believe Wildhub network will help me realize my objectives and wishes. Thank you all for your support and time. Best regards, Samuel.