The speaker, Airi Yamawaki, will show movie clips and photo images from her organization’s activities in both Kenya and Japan. She will talk about how complex it is to protect wildlife, especially a species like the African Elephant, where some countries justify traditional use whilst ivory is being traded for easy cash by criminal syndicates and terrorist groups. One of the documentary films she initiated shows that some of the ivory from Kenya was being smuggled by Islamic extremists. She will also talk about the ongoing efforts by her organization in Kenya to work with local communities and tribes, such as the Maasai, to protect wildlife.
Airi Yamawaki is a producer who is adamant about wildlife conservation because of her unique background. She grew up in South Africa. After graduating university, she spent the next decade filming African stories, covering such personalities and topics as Nelson Mandela and lions that hunt elephants. 2011 was the turning point for her. 10% of the world’s African Elephant population was lost in that year to poaching and habitat loss. She was inspired to start the NGO “Tears of the African Elephant” and, ever since, she has been involved in various efforts to resolve Japan’s ivory issue and to protect the elephants from poaching and illegal trade.
EVENT: Talk on impact of global consumption of wildlife products on African people/wildlife
WHEN: Thursday, November 22, 2018; 13:20~14:50–3rd Period
WHERE: Room 940–Fourth Floor of Bulding 9 on the Aoyama Campus of Aoyama Gakuin University Click here.
LANGUAGE: English (without Japanese interpretation)
TARGET AUDIENCE: Anyone who cares about animals and about their future on this planet.
WHAT TO PREPARE: Prepare by accessing the home pages of WildAid and Tears of the African Elephant
