About David Jay
I have been working in the conservation sector since the mid-1990s, largely based in the UK and working for international NGOs. I began as a grant fundraiser and moved into programme management, including working with a range of partnerships/coalitions. I am also a technical writer and I have worked on various projects from high-level reports to blogs. I have an MSc from the Durrell Institute of Conservation Ecology at the University of Kent (UK). I currently work for ANIMONDIAL - a travel consultancy advising on Nature Positive tourism and other aspects of animal and nature protection in the travel industry; I manage our Animal Protection Network of on-the-ground conservation projects.
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Recent Comments
Thanks for sharing, David. Could you make the link functional so it doesn't have to be copy/pasted into a browser?
Thanks Lara - I hadn't spotted that was a manual thing. Now I know!
Welcome aboard! Your job sounds very interesting. As someone who is currently searching for potential opportunities to continue my conservation career, I'd be interested in talking with you more about what your job with ANOMINDIAL entails. I haven't heard of many travel agencies with that focus in mind. You also may have my dream job as I would love to get into project management on international conservation projects. :)
Hi Anne, it sounds like you are doing lots of volunteering, which is how I made the connections that got me my first role in project management. As for the travel sector, it is mostly Adventure Travel companies that are really engaged with local conservation work, but many of the larger companies have sustainability programmes and sometimes these include biodiversity elements (although we are trying to encourage this much more). You are more than welcome to drop me a line in Conversations to ask more about my experiences ...
Hi David, a warm welcome to WildHub and thanks for sharing your inspiring introduction! My curiosity got the best of me so one question that came up for me straight away, why the name "Mallorcan midwife toad"? :)
It's named after a cool reproductive behaviour. The females lay eggs in strings, like most toads, but rather than leaving them in a pond or pool the male toad wraps the strings around his legs and looks after the eggs until they hatch. So, the fathers are actually the 'midwives' to the babies. Another lovely thing about them is their call. It is just a short single-note whistle, but they all do it at a slightly different pitch and the cumulative effect is quite enchanting. (There's a good field recording on Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/colin-hunter/common-midwife-toads-lorraine-france).
Hi Liane - it's good to hear from you. I work particularly at the interface of tourism and conservation / animal welfare. I'd certainly be interested to hear more about the elephant facility that you were working at, as I know a couple of places in that area but would be keen to hear about more. If you were working for a specific organisation in the Seychelles I'd be interested to hear about that too.
Hi Liane,
Ah, so, Kindred Spirit is already a member of our Animal Protection Network. I knew there were a few similar ones around there but I hadn't come across the GVI project. We are also in contact with MEF, which I think originated that model.
It sounds like you have been working quite a bit within the tourism/conservation interface, which where my work focuses as well. Do check out www.animondial.com if you want to find out more about that, and drop me a line if you want to know more.
Good luck your new role, it sound very interesting and very valuable.
A warm welcome to WildHub, Liane and great to have you on our team! Impressive that you learned to freedive!
Based on your work experience in Northern Thailand where you worked with a local community to set up ethical elephant experiences in their village, perhaps you could connect with @David Jay who is the Network Manager for the Animal Protection Network (APN) of on-the-ground conservation projects. David recently shared to be interested in finding more ethical projects/orgs to join this network set up by Animondial, a travel consultancy advising on Nature Positive tourism and other aspects of animal and nature protection in the travel industry.
Thanks for the nudge ...
Hi Liane - it's good to hear from you. I work particularly at the interface of tourism and conservation / animal welfare. I'd certainly be interested to hear more about the elephant facility that you were working at, as I know a couple of places in that area but would be keen to hear about more. If you were working for a specific organisation in the Seychelles I'd be interested to hear about that too.