May 11
Valli Moosa, President of The World Conservation Union, urged the nature and wildlife film industry to motivate the general public to environmental action.

Movies and documentaries are one of the most powerful instruments for public enlightenment. Regardless of what else we do, if people do not want to protect the environment we will fail. Raising awareness and consciousness is absolutely vital and fundamental,” he said.

Valli Moosa opened the first-ever Wild Talk Africa Film Festival, held in Durban, South Africa last week. The booming film industry in South Africa there met with representatives from other African countries as well as some of the most famous names in nature filming, including Disney, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel.

“It is that creativity; it is that wonderful way in which you articulate real-life issues in films and documentaries that will convince more and more people that conserving the environment is the right thing to do. That we should not become blinded by statistics of growth and development,” he continued.

Moosa underlined the power of this sector of the film industry to reach the general audience with sound conservation knowledge, and that they thereby have the power to influence the highest levels of decision-making.

”We reach out to decision makers all around the word through television and film, and portray environmental issues and looming environmental disasters. And if we don’t reach out to the decision makers, we reach out to their families,” he said.

The Festival, whilst firmly grounded in the South African film community, is fast on track to become a major international platform for the wildlife film industry. It organized a range of discussions on technical developments as well as the relationship between the industry and society.

The World Conservation Union looks forward to again partner with Wild Talk for next year’s event.

More information visit:
www.wildtalkafrica.com or contact Michael Raimondo - IUCN South Africa Film Unit – michael.raimondo@iucn.org

May 2
The number of known threatened species reaches 16,119. The ranks of those facing extinction are joined by familiar species like the polar bear, hippopotamus and desert gazelles; together with ocean sharks, freshwater fish and Mediterranean flowers. Positive action has helped the white-tailed eagle and offers a glimmer of hope to Indian vultures.
Full release - IUCN Red List 2006