Today we speak to the incredible Damien Mander, Founder and CEO of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation.

He has worked tirelessly to help preserve endangered animals, working with local African conservationists to help train them to protect our last remaining species of African wildlife. Damien is an Iraq war veteran who served as a Naval clearance diver and special operations sniper for the Australian Defense Force. In 2009 while travelling through Africa, he was inspired by the work of rangers and the plight of wildlife. Liquidating his life savings, the International Anti-Poaching Foundation was established to be the last line of defence for nature. Over the past decade the IAPF has scaled to train and support rangers which now help protect over 20 million acres of African wilderness.

In 2017 Damien founded ‘Akashinga - Nature Protected by Women’, an IAPF program that has already grown to over 240 employees with 7 nature reserves in the portfolio. They are the only group of nature reserves in the world to be protected by women. Their goal is to employ 1000 women by 2025, protecting a network of 20 nature reserves.

He is the winner of the 2019 Winsome Constance Kindness Gold Medal, a prestigious international recognition for services to animals and humanity. Past recipients include Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall.

He was featured in the newly released documentary The Game Changers from 6-time Oscar winning Director James Cameron, and has now released another documentary with James Cameron and National Geographic about his work with the women of Akashinga – “The Brave One’s”.. as you can imagine I was quite excited to get to speak to someone which such an incredible resume of doing good in the world.

Today, Damien and I discuss our relationship to the natural world, the importance of protecting endangered species, how we can all help animals by switching to a plant based diet, and also the importance of supporting females in conservation