BG Group, a global natural gas company, and Conservation International joined forces in 2006 to convey the message of conservation through the power of photography. Their Conservation through Photography Alliance focuses on creating unique opportunities to capture, store, and share conservation photos.
The alliance was formed in recognition of the importance of photography to document conservation actions, challenges, and successes, especially for people who have never traveled to a tropical forest, coral reef, or wetland. Images are a powerful tool for building pride among local communities of their natural heritage, motivating the general public to change their consumption habits, and influencing international leaders to take action to support conservation and sustainable development.
“Through the leadership of BG Group, the alliance will advance conservation of our natural world,” says Russell Mittermeier, president of CI. “This partnership will allow those that do not have the opportunity to travel to these beautiful yet threatened places the opportunity to see why it is so important that we protect our planet’s biodiversity. Nothing does more to inspire people to protect and conserve like a vivid photo image.”
“As an organization that works closely with the Earth’s natural resources, we are committed to making a positive contribution to the protection of the environment," says BG Group Executive Vice President Charles Bland. "Our partnership with Conservation International will provide funding to research and document biodiversity hotspots, using the power of photography to raise awareness of the beauty, diversity, and fragility of the natural world, and to serve as a reminder of the importance of preserving this precious heritage for future generations.”
Alliance is Off to Strong Start
The three-year collaboration involves training workshops for field staff, expeditions to remote areas, and exhibits of resulting photography. Purchasing photo equipment, building CI’s image library, and documenting relatively unknown plants, animals, and communities are also part of the alliance's strategy.
CI has already completed one training workshop and two expeditions, and hosted its first photo exhibition, entitled "A Future for Life," in downtown Houston. The exhibit included more than 60 images that take viewers from the spectacular wildlife of the Pantanal wetland in Brazil to the depths of the coral reefs of the Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia.
Support from BG Group has already enabled CI to conduct photographic training workshops and expeditions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Almost immediately after the creation of the alliance, CI set out to document the Raja Ampat Islands of West Papua, Indonesia – home of one of the most pristine coral reefs ecosystems in the world.
Just months later, CI photographers were deployed to Central Africa – the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda – to capture gorillas on film, as well as aerial photos of forest cover across the Maiko-Tayna-Kahuzi-Biega landscape and the Tayna Gorilla Reserve.
At the same time, CI and its partners got together in the Brazilian Pantanal for a photography training session. Armed with equipment purchased with support from BG Group, these conservationists learned how to take the best photos of flora and fauna and how to document their photos properly so they can be added to CI's growing image library for future use.