Last week our “surprise” speaker was Wally Van Sickle, wildlife biologist, conservationist, Rotarian, and founder of IDEA WILD. His presentation was entitled PASSION to ACTION. He detailed his journey from Idea Wild’s founding in 1991 to the present. Its mission is to equip, empower, and activate the world’s most promising environmental leaders to grow and strengthen the movement to conserve the planet’s biodiversity. Since the founding the organization has provided equipment to over 7400 individuals and 140 countries.
Wally began by asking members of RCFC to identify their passions. He traced his interest in fossils, dinosaurs, and wildlife back to the 70’s when (1971) he started a “dinosaur club”. He learned from National Geographic that the most important thing we can do for our planet is to conserve biologic diversity. Degrees in Zoology followed, and he initially worked in Utah researching mountain lions. The contrast with first-world high-tech wildlife research tools and their scarcity in developing countries became apparent as he volunteered and travelled to places like Kenya and Belize. In the developing world the passion and credentials were present, but the simple tools were often missing. It became obvious that equipping folks with basic and inexpensive tools (e.g., GPS and cameras) could have a significant impact on the study and preservation of biologic diversity. This not only is good for the animal and plant world but positively impacts Homo sapiens (e.g., meds from plants, food supply, cleaner air, and water).
Next, specific examples of recent projects were highlighted.
Whale sharks are studied by Debbie Martinez in Mexico using a donated underwater camera. Propeller injuries were documented leading to designation of a safe zone for these sharks (and ecotourism). Kamal in Sri Lanka is able to identify and follow 1000 elephants leading to their safety and protection of migration routes. Binoculars and GPS tracking allowed Michael Garcia to protect parrot species in Costa Rica. A project in South Africa has provided shepherd dogs to protect rancher’s cattle from cheetahs. All toll, 22,800 projects have been impacted by Idea Wild!
Finally, the Power of the Small - “Do not underestimate the power of the small-the ability of an individual to go out in the world and make a difference, we often equate largeness with power, rather than seeing largeness is in fact a limitation to change - think of smallness as a virtue not a limitation” - Walter Wink.