Robin's Nest from American Humane - Robin's Nest Coming to You From South Africa

Episode Date: August 5, 2024

In this new episode of Robin’s Nest, American Humane president and CEO Dr. Robin Ganzert is coming to us straight from South Africa.   In this exciting episode, Robin speaks with the 2023 and 2024 Global Humanitarian Award Recipients Adrian Gardiner and John Payne, respectively. Adrian delves into his leadership journey in conservation and his efforts with the Nyosi Wildlife Reserve, while John highlights the significant impact of American Humane's Pups4Patriots program and underscores the importance of community connection.Both men are leaders in the humanitarian space, and we hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about each of their inspiring work.

Welcome to Robin's Nest. We are live today at the Eastern Cape in South Africa, this gorgeous country, and we're in a very special spot, Niosi, a private game reserve. We're here today to celebrate two titans in the space of animal health and well-being, Adrian Gardner, our 2023 Global Humanitarian Medal recipient, and John Payne, our 2024 Global Humanitarian Medal recipient. Today's a very special day celebrating the healing power of the human-animal bond and I'm so glad you've joined us in Robin's Nest. We'll be right back with some great interviews with Adrian and John. Welcome to Robin's Nest. So many of us have a deep connection with the animals around us and want to protect them from the pets in our homes to endangered species in the wild.

That's why I joined American Humane. As one of the oldest and most effective animal protection groups, we help billions of animals around the world. Join us as we explore how we can build a more humane world together. Welcome to this edition of Robyn's Nest. Today I'm with Adrian Gardner, the incredible, inspiring individual here of the Eastern Cape who really made this beautiful facility in the OC come to life. It's not your only project, Adrian, in your incredible career as a conservationist. He's been a transformative figure and so much so that we've recognized you last year with our Global Humanitarian Medal. I'm so glad to have Adrian Gardner on Robyn's Nest. Wow, what an exceptional

experience to be involved today. You know, not only taking me back a year when you awarded me this incredible recognition of, and it's not only my work, you know, not only taking me back a year when you awarded me this incredible recognition of, and it's not only my work, you know, you can't do it without a team. And Noisi, I've got partners overseas, you know, who trust our vision and the team that we've got here. And I think similar to you, I mean, just having the privilege of meeting your board, really in a social capacity and seeing how they support you, what you do, what you've done. I just feel very humbled to be a part of it. So thank you for choosing this place to give John this incredible award.

It's been wonderful. Tell our wonderful listeners who are in Robins Nest today, tell us about NEOSI, this incredible private reserve that you've created. It's a central park really. Well that's what we want it to be. We want it to be the central park of the two wonderful cities that we have in this area. Kobeja and Karika with our old Port Elizabeth and Newton Hague and we want to make sure that it becomes a world renowned for what we're doing. We'll be

the first in the world to be able to have done a 3,000 hectare wildlife reserve where we rewild animals and put them back into bigger reserves and we've been successful with that and thanks to you and the support you gave us for the cheetahs, that's been amazing. And then when we were going through the droughts, the money that you supported us with in drilling a borehole which is really working well. So this is a dream that's got to happen and as I said earlier, is that the Institute to me is most important that we can create this significant Institute that's not only for wildlife, but for the oceans, for birds, for communities, for plants.

I wanna ask you about your vision for an Institute, but I want to take our listeners back to where it all began, right? I want to take them all back, and I want you to share your story of how you were inspired to be a leading, transformative leader in the space of conservation. Tell me, Adrian, and share with our listeners in Robin's Nest, where did it all begin? It actually began where I grew up in uh it was radija then zimbabwe my father was very involved in cattle farms and one farm was 365 000 acres

and it had and it's had its own game reserve on it and he used to look after these when managers went on their leaves and that sort of thing we grew grew up in an environment like that. And then, you know, I came down here, I came to Port Elizabeth in 1969 and worked in retail and construction and then bought a farm and we did horse breeding and all the rest of it. Then sold those and then 30 years ago, you know, I realized I want my patch of Africa

and actually went back to Zimbabwe. And I went to the recognized parts of South Africa and I thought to myself you know if I don't find something quite close to where I live it's not going to work because I'm still running a business. And I luckily found this farm which was only then two and a half thousand acres that start where we were all staying and then the next farm came, the next one came. And then I did some reading up of the history of what actually occurred in this area

in terms of wildlife. And you know, we've got five of the seven biomes of Africa that occur here. Well, let me just stop you there. Five of the seven biomes right here in the Eastern Cape where you began your career as a leading conservationist. Tell our listeners, what's a biome? A biome is a difference, you know,

the different species of plants. You know, you'll get grassland, you'll get this and so. That means that you've got different species of plants and vegetation that the wildlife can, so you can have browsers, grazers, and all the rest of it. And so those species are obviously here. And when the settlers came here, there were more species here than there are in the Kruger Park.

Wait a minute. There were more species here in the Eastern Cape than there was ever in Kruger? Correct. Because of the fact of these biomes and the carrying capacity. But then they came here and they wanted to farm. And they cleared out all these animals. They got rid of the lions. It was about 160 years ago, the last lion here, or more. And they got rid of the lions, were about 160 years ago the last lion here or more and they got rid of the rhino. There were a few elephant

left which was the start of the Addo Elephant Park and then when I read all this up I thought to myself if I can put these farms together and got enough and rehabilitate them I can put back what was here and everybody laughed at me by the way. They said it will never happen. Well you know what, people always laugh when it's the visionary taking, stepping out with moral courage. But when you talk about bringing it back, you're not just talking about the beautiful grasslands or the beautiful trees and plants. You are also talking about reintroducing species, the megafauna, like the giraffe, the elephant, the lions to the space.

Am I right? 100% correct. And we brought back species that didn't occur here, like the white rhino, because it wasn't grazing enough here. They were a grazer. And then this great guy, Ian Player, who is a great conservationist of Africa. Dr. Ian Player, friends, we should all go in and do research on Dr. Ian Player and his incredible legacy.

Please tell us about your friendship with him. What he did, when I eventually got him here, I was one of the first that was gonna, in the private sector that was gonna rewild, and he embraced what I did, and he really supported me and introduced me to incredible conservationists like Jack Hanna, Sir Lawrence van der Post, you name them, they all came. And John Aspinall, they all came and saw what I was doing and

supported it and they recognized it. And he was the one that saved the white rhino from extinction. And when he saw what man how they changed the landscape and there was grazing here, he said, bring the white rhino here because there's grazing here. So although man had messed up, he had actually created a habitat that white rhino could exist when i brought the giraffe in i also got criticized because people said they didn't exist here so i got the one of the universities to do a research program on it and they said well they're doing a lot better because they're eating at the top and not at the bottom like the goats and creating umbrellas around this whole country so you're doing a great job because it's actually supporting that biome.

And so... And I want to just make sure our listeners heard that. It's amazing. You introduced the white rhino because they were critically endangered, thanks to Dr. Ian Player. But then you brought the giraffe in. And so when you look at this beautiful space, you've got grazers at the top and grazers at the bottom. Yeah, the brows at at the top and grazers at the bottom yeah the browser at

the top and the grazer at the bottom and then we brought in the black rhino which were extinct from here but they existed here when when the settlers arrived here you know it's just so and then i think the real legacy is the number of people that have followed the example that we made so all those that that thought it would never work have made it work on their own farm so they've cut out cattle and sheep and goats and all the rest and put back wildlife. And the result of that is there are far more people employed. So what I'm loving about this is what we talk about a lot in our coffee chats at Founders Lodge where it all began and the great beautiful Shamari Private Game Reserve.

You've talked to me about your passion for the fact that conservation can't work without community involvement. Please share a little bit about that. You know that really came to me from Dr. Ian Player too. You know he just said to me is that in his experience and we've seen it all around the poaching and all the rest that happens. Yes. Unless they get involved to understand the significance of it, the people that are employed by it, and what do they get out of it? We have to involve them. That's why we want to create this institute which will bring students through. You know, I started a university in South Africa called Stendin, which is the only university in the world where you can

do part of your degree, one of the semesters in wildlife conservation. And it's all going to happen here. We had another farm that we did it on but we've decided to do it here so we changing the lives of the students and see them just doing an academic thing really for business they can see what the world's about and what the future is if they learn about what the communities are and what conservation is you know Adrian I shared this story with you a day or two ago so here I am in South Africa and at a beautiful place and a young man comes up and he's helping us out one of the lodges his name is Bunto and Bunto said something

very interesting I said I'm here with Adrian Gardner do you happen to know him and then this young man opened up and shared with me his life. He shared that he won a scholarship to the tourism school that you sponsored your scholarship. He said he had never met you, but because of the fact that he was given that opportunity to go to school and study tourism, he said, now I have a life. He said, I would never have had a life if it hadn't been for Adrian Gardner. So I know how many animals you've saved. You're working to the fight against extinction for the rhino, what you've done for so many other species and the lions are, I know, near and dear to your heart.

The tragic lion situation here in South Africa. But when I met Bunto and saw how you changed this young man's life, I was just totally moved. And now he's devoting his life to making sure that people understand the value of animals and the value of ecotourism. Well done, my friend. What a legacy. Thank you so much for that. But you know, there's quite a few that are put through the university and have done this. And to me me that's as important as bringing in wildlife if I can just get those people educated and understand what we're trying to do for their benefit as well as our benefit so to hear that story from you and I've

never met him I've got to meet him and when we get the Institute going I'll get him to come and do a talk here. I would love that I think he'll cry when he meets you just to be prepared it'll be quite emotional. It's wonderful. So we're gonna fast forward a little bit because you created Shamari. People laughed at your vision, but now it's served as a model,

a model, take down the fences. And I think that's wonderful. And that allows animals to roam freely, engage in their original behaviors, behaviors that they were meant to engage in, in a natural environment. As you look at what you've done and you fast forward to NEOSI, what makes NEOSI so different and so special? I think because of the fact that it's close by. The communities can come here. We've got a community right next to us.

We've got Port Elizabeth where people live. We've got a golf course next to us here where people live they can come and see it again we've been laughed at you know but I guarantee it's going to work because we've already seen success so I just think that to have something like this so close and to be able to get people and volumes through here I mean we have a lot of people that just come here to lunches and listen to stories and that sort of thing and then go on a drive. So I think it's just its position is really what's gonna make it

and what we stand for and what we're doing. And to be, I think, very special for us all is to be certified by Global Humane. I mean, that is a significant achievement for what we're doing here. So thank you for that. Oh, well you earned it. I'm so proud that we are at NEOC, which is Globally Humane Certified in Humane Tourism.

It provides an opportunity to engage with animals and their natural environment safely and most importantly, humanely. It's one of our newest initiatives and NEOC was one of our pilots. What I love and what people don't understand unless you've been to Africa, Adrian, is that you talk about the importance of these communities having the chance to come into a game reserve. I think where we come from, a lot of people think that elephants are going by, giraffes are going by. Everyone has that opportunity to see these magnificent megafauna creatures.

But the reality is that's not so. So there could be people living in those villages and those communities that have never interacted with an elephant unless they come to Niosi. Is that correct? Yeah, 100%. But the best example of it, what you showed us yesterday in your incredible second edition of the movie Planet Extinction is Rwanda. Look what happened there with the gorillas. Yes. If the community

hadn't got involved that that whole program wouldn't have existed. But to hear that story firsthand it really comes to my heart because that endorses what we're trying to do. That's a great example well done in finding that and promoting it so well. Thank you, thank you. And we are talking about the case of Rwanda as an excellent example of winning the fight against extinction, particularly for the mountain gorillas that have now moved up on the IUC and Red List because of the incredible work that Rwanda has done with nonprofits, with communities, and with government. That triad that's working so beautifully in supporting ecotourism, which those dollars

are shared with communities and then shared back with the conservation spaces. But I think important for us is that you just mentioned it there now, the nonprofits. The nonprofits that have endorsed our work means a hell of a lot to us because that's endorsements that you get if you're doing the thing correctly. So though, you know, it started off with Wilderness Foundation that Ian Player had. And then, you know, we've been involved with African Parks. We've been involved with yourselves. As you know, we found it Born Free out here at Shamwari. So we worked with those non-, which have been very successful. So to have Global Humane here at Noisy as one of the first endorsers of our work here is very significant. That's wonderful.

Well, last year we presented to you this incredible medal, our Global Humanitarian Medal. You are a recipient for 2023. What did that mean to you? You know, the surprise that I got was, as you heard when, you know, I mentioned that who you awarded today to John, it's really not about me. I wouldn't have got this medal if I hadn't had the support that I got from the people that I got that were, also when I started, you know, they skeptical yes but does their lives have changed completely yeah I mean you take the vet at Chamori John Johan I mean he'd never traveled out of the country you know he's done lectures

in Russia in the Middle East in America John O'Brien who was a ranger at Marla Marla game reserve and I got him to and he's now dr. John O'Brien oh he's a leading ecologist in this part of the country. That's wonderful. You've impacted and changed lives, humans and animals. That's what enabled you to do, give me this award because those people endorsed what I was doing. I love that. I love that. Well, Adrian, any final words to our listeners who are inspired by your story? Any words in Robin's Nest about how people can make a difference? Yes, very simply.

Come and see us. See what we're doing, understand what we're doing, and I hope together with our travel company, they're going people after me when we started that, which my son runs, that we can put programs together with your incredible database to bring those people out that support you to come and see what you've endorsed when what we do. That's wonderful Adrian again congratulations and thanks for being with us on Robin's Nest. Thank you. Well John I know one of

the programs that touches your heart is so much is our Pups for Patriots program providing service dogs for wounded warriors those warriors facing those invisible wounds of PTS and TBI. Tell me about your thoughts about our work that's yet to be done on Pups or Patriots. Well, it's fantastic work and you just have to talk to one of the veterans that has been through the program that now has a service dog and the first thing out of their mouth is this dog saved my life. It mouth is this dog saved my life it should be this program saved my life yes and so we have to get that message out to the

masses because we have too many of our service people, men and women, that take their lives every day because they have no hope. These service animals and this program that we provide give them the hope and the reason to live. Yes. And to get back into society and to be able to function because these people are non-functional and that's why you know they they end their lives tragically but the dogs save their lives the program saves their lives and we bring them back into

society it's not just the animal and the care and the love that's going on here, but they're able to integrate back into the world. And that's so important for, as the world gets increasingly more challenged with threats, our soldiers, our servicemen, they're going to be facing incredibly challenging times and when they retire to have them come back and be able to have a service dog it will be life-saving and even needed now more than ever. Yeah and people

just think you know we unite these animals with the soldier. But we have a program that helps them become, again, part of society because they feel like society has abandoned them. Yes, absolutely, they do, they do. And in many cases, they're just not able to recognize those symptoms of PTSD and TBI and the drugs are so dangerous as well but a dog saves lives a dog saves lives and there's so many other things that

we're doing with this program yes we've just recently found out that nutrition is a big part of helping the veterans ward off the episodes of PTSD. Yes. And so certain foods trigger these responses. And so eliminating that kind of food in their diet will help them immensely. And American Humane is looking into the possibility of developing a cookbook, which you've done in the past, for veterans to help them with their PTSD. So it's a whole program, not just the animal,

but to get them reintegrated into society is so very important. One common thread between your leadership and your unwavering commitment to animals and Adrian Gardner's is the ability to connect people, planet and animals but I really love the fact that you have just spoken about the human connection with the service dog program and I know what is so important to Adrian is the community connection to conservation, it's the people and so as much as we say that we're on the front lines

fighting for animals, we're trying to pull people along with us to help them heal as well. Well, the people are an integral part of this whole thing. They have to not only buy into it, they have to feel a part of it. They have to economically benefit from it. Yes.

And that's what makes it work, to have a game reserve here between two towns, people giving up their land from farming to allow the natural inhabitants of this land to come back. They have to feel part of it. allow the natural inhabitants of this land to come back, they have to feel part of it. Absolutely. And they have to have jobs as a result of it. Economic incentives. Economic incentives.

It's always there because people have to have a living and they have to exist. Just like we're allowing these animals to exist on their native land, we also have to take care of the people. And the people have to be part of it without the people being part of it, without the communities being part of it. It just doesn't work. John, I want to pivot because we are in this beautiful game reserve.

We've had a lot of opportunity to interact with these magnificent creatures, all sizes. What's your favorite animal that you've met this week? I love the elephants. Yes. Yes. I love the elephants. They're magnificent. They're so, just, I'm just in awe.

They're so incredible. Yes. And I know we're so excited, John and I are, because we're working to actually trans relocate or relocate 40 elephants into a very safe space and we'll have much more to announce in that in coming months but I know we both love the elephants we do and and of course the Lions and the Lions there's more in captivity than there is in the wild and so we have to do something about that you have to help

the Lions as well. Absolutely, absolutely. Well, John, congratulations. It's your day. Thank you. The sun is shining. We're in a beautiful game reserve, and I'm so proud to know you. Thank you.

It's been incredible the last 14 years together. Yes, yes. To see what the organization has accomplished, mostly from the work that you've done. You're very kind. And the leadership you've provided. So we're looking forward to the next 14. Yes, sir, we are.

We've got a lot more work to do. We do. Well, friends, this has been such a pleasure to be with you today at Robbins Nest celebrating our Global Humanitarian Medal recipient John Payne. This episode was so much fun being live from the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Today we've experienced being in such a beautiful natural environment where together we're celebrating incredible magnificent creatures and we're talking about the hard issues in the space of conservation and making a meaningful difference for the animals which we share this beautiful planet with. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Robin's Nest. I hope you'll tune in next time and we look forward to

welcome you back. Thanks for all you do to build a more humane world.