The Naso people are battling against illegal squatters, agricultural expansion, and recurring invasions by cattle ranchers, which threaten both their cultural heritage and the region's fragile ecosystems. In response, Global Conservation has partnered with the Naso authorities to implement Global Park Defense. Over the last 18 months, 60 Naso Community Ecoguards, supported by Panama law enforcement, have patrolled thousands of kilometers to map threats, dismantle illegal settlements, and protect the integrity of the Naso Comarca.
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In this episode of War on Nature, join Global Conservation and Wildlife Photographer Joshua Asel as we delve into the environmental and political challenges facing the Naso people of Panama. This indigenous community, led by a functional king and council of elders, is fighting to protect their ancestral lands—160,616 hectares of legally recognized territory—from encroaching threats.​​
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Despite the ongoing threat of poaching, our efforts have yielded promising results. From the resurgence of elephants and Rothschild giraffes to the preservation of Uganda's diverse wildlife, our commitment remains unwavering.
​Join us on a journey to Murchison Falls, Uganda's gem in wildlife tourism, where the battle against poaching is more critical than ever. Global Conservation stands at the forefront, sponsoring Hilton's mission and supporting the protection of Murchison Falls National Park through our innovative Global Park Defense system.
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Derawan's rich biodiversity is under siege from illegal fishing, shark finning, and the poaching of sea turtles and their eggs. In this episode, witness how Global Conservation is combatting these issues through the implementation of the Global Park Defense (GPD) program. This innovative strategy combines targeted patrolling, marine radar, and other surveillance methods to safeguard this precious ecosystem. Global Conservation collaborates closely with local communities, fostering a culture of conservation and creating new career opportunities that move away from exploitation. Our Community Protection program empowers locals by providing sustainable alternatives to harmful practices.
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Once numbering in the millions, koala populations have plummeted to fewer than 80,000 in the wild due to climate change, habitat loss, and logging. Now officially endangered, koalas face the real risk of extinction without urgent action. In response, Global Conservation is working to protect one of the last great forests where these beloved animals still thrive. Global Conservation is dedicated to preserving critical habitats like the Great Koala National Park. By supporting anti-logging efforts and habitat preservation, we aim to save this vital ecosystem for future generations.
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n this episode of War on Nature, join Global Conservation and Conservation Photographer Paul Hilton as we dive into the urgent challenges facing the Great Koala National Park on Australia’s east coast. With a unique biodiversity shaped by millions of years of geographical isolation, Australia is home to species found nowhere else on Earth. Among these, the koala stands as an irreplaceable national icon—and it is now under threat.
Just one wild place remains on earth where tigers, elephants, orangutans, and rhinos share space: the Leuser Ecosystem World Heritage Site on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Leuser Ecosystem spans over 6 million acres, three times the size of Yellowstone National Park. Its diverse landscape includes lowland and montane rainforests, nine rivers, three lakes, and over 460,000 acres of carbon-rich peatlands. One of the last remaining intact rainforests in all of Indonesia, it is a crucial source of clean drinking water and agricultural livelihoods for over four million people. The ecosystem services provided by the Leuser Ecosystem have been estimated to value $23 billion.
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Each year, hundreds of thousands of migrants cross the Darien Gap, leaving behind millions of pounds of trash and human waste. This pollution poses serious threats to local wildlife, including endangered species like the brown-headed spider monkey, Baird’s tapir, and the majestic harpy eagle. The region’s ecosystems, crucial to the well-being of communities and biodiversity alike, are suffering from the mounting waste and illegal activities. In response, Global Conservation launched the Global Park Defense (GPD) initiative in 2020 to help protect this vital biosphere.
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War on Nature exposes the ongoing destruction of the world’s last intact forests, marine ecosystems, and endangered species and Global Conservation’s race to protect them against mass extinction. This new film series takes the audience to the world’s most critical frontline battles in the War on Nature – from Africa to the Amazon, the jungles of Leuser Ecosystem on the island of Sumatra to the coral reefs of Derawan Archipelago – to meet the real Heroes in Protection battling to save our planet.
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The amazing Heroes in Protection fighting the War on Nature include Farwiza Farhan of HaKA, a TIME 100 Winner in 2023, and Michael Keigwin, head of Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF), who has dedicated his life to protecting Uganda’s endangered national parks. In their fight to save our planet, these conservation leaders have faced massive illegal wildlife poaching, heavy corruption, and fights against criminal gangs, all with limited financial resources.
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The series explores the massive impact of illegal logging and mining, palm oil expansion, wildlife poaching, illegal fishing, and the burning of the Earth’s last intact forests and wildlife habitats. Without the support of international donors and Global Conservation, these endangered UNESCO World Heritage sites, Indigenous Territories, National Parks, and Marine Protected Areas face daunting challenges for survival.
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Directed and narrated by world-renowned conservation filmmakers like Paul Hilton and Andrea Pistoli, the first two films of the series focus on the War on Nature: Uganda and the War on Nature: Sumatra. Upcoming episodes in the War on Nature series include Panama, Georgia, Zimbabwe, Borneo, and Marine Protection.
Paul Hilton is a wildlife crime consultant and has partnered with some of the largest conservation NFPs, such as the Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace, WildAid, and the Oceanic Preservation Society. Paul has dedicated his life to his craft, renowned for photojournalism that opens our eyes to faraway places and brings dangerous stories into our living rooms.
In this quest, Paul has spent the past three decades documenting deforestation, focusing on land clearing and the illegal wildlife trade in Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, following the shark-fin trade across the globe, from the fishing ports of Yemen and the Middle East to the high seas of the Pacific and Indian oceans; documenting life onboard long-lining fleets from Taiwan, China, the Philippines, and Indonesia, and the dried seafood markets of Southern China and Hong Kong. Paul is presently working on Kalamunda, an in-depth look into deforestation and habitat destruction and its impact on the Australian continent.
Paul’s footage of the illegal wildlife trade features heavily throughout the 2015 film Racing Extinction, produced by the Ocean Preservation Society and directed by Oscar-winner Louie Psihoyos, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
His work has also been featured in numerous television documentaries: Change Drivers for Discovery Channel, Ocean Warriors directed by Robert Redford for Animal Planet, and Why On Earth, alongside Clint Eastwood.
Paul Hilton is a wildlife crime consultant and has partnered with some of the largest conservation NFPs, such as the Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace, WildAid, and the Oceanic Preservation Society. Paul has dedicated his life to his craft, renowned for photojournalism that opens our eyes to faraway places and brings dangerous stories into our living rooms.
In this quest, Paul has spent the past three decades documenting deforestation, focusing on land clearing and the illegal wildlife trade in Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, following the shark-fin trade across the globe, from the fishing ports of Yemen and the Middle East to the high seas of the Pacific and Indian oceans; documenting life onboard long-lining fleets from Taiwan, China, the Philippines, and Indonesia, and the dried seafood markets of Southern China and Hong Kong. Paul is presently working on Kalamunda, an in-depth look into deforestation and habitat destruction and its impact on the Australian continent.
Paul’s footage of the illegal wildlife trade features heavily throughout the 2015 film Racing Extinction, produced by the Ocean Preservation Society and directed by Oscar-winner Louie Psihoyos, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
His work has also been featured in numerous television documentaries: Change Drivers for Discovery Channel, Ocean Warriors directed by Robert Redford for Animal Planet, and Why On Earth, alongside Clint Eastwood.
Joshua "All Terrain" Asel is an internationally recognized wildlife conservation photographer with an emphasis on marine habitats, birds of prey, anti-poaching, and endangered species. His work has taken him to South America, Central America, and Africa, and he has successfully navigated encounters with poachers and pirates. He's a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a board member of the Bird Rescue Center of Sonoma County, an honorary Tribe Member of the Naso Indigenous People in Panama, a member of the Ethics Committee for the North American Nature Photography Association, and is sponsored by Think Tank Photo and Columbia Sportswear.
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Joshua's current main project revolves around critically endangered California condor conservation in Central and Northern California, with focused efforts to establish a new home base in Sonoma County for the Condor Recovery Program. Additionally, Joshua is featured in the award-winning short film “Wingspan,” about his work on California condors, which is currently on an international film circuit. He's also appeared on multiple judging panels, advised on mountain lion safety for land trusts, and acted as a consultant and principal photographer to help establish a new redwood forest preserve in Healdsburg, California.
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Joshua’s publications include Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic, Defenders of Wildlife, Whalebone Magazine, The New York Times, Hakai Magazine, Alaska Airlines Magazine, The Press Democrat, NANPA Expressions, and several scholarly articles, among others.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
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War on Nature is fundamentally a war on all of humanity's life support systems.
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Every time we lose a species, we are one step closer to our demise, and by traveling to these locations and meeting the people on the ground, it really hits home how underfunded and underappreciated they truly are.
These frontline heroes go over and above to protect biodiversity and critical habitat, and now Global Conservation is supporting more and more of these people and places one protected area at a time.
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“What we do to the natural world, we do to ourselves.”
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Paul Hilton
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Global Conservation is backing the Heroes in Protection, critical to protecting our planet’s most endangered national parks, indigenous territories, and marine protected areas.
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Biodiversity is collapsing. Millions of species are going extinct.
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Armed conflicts are inflicting massive damage from Ukraine to Gaza to the Congo.
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Relentless greed and industrial expansion are destroying our last remaining intact forests and marine ecosystems.
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Every year, tens of thousands of acres of intact primary rainforests are being cut and burned for palm oil, cattle ranching, coca plantations, illegal mining and the unrelenting expansion of human settlement.
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In 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated:
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Yet we seem hellbent on destruction. Our actions are laying waste to forests, jungles, farmland, wetlands, oceans, coral reefs, rivers, seas and lakes. Biodiversity is collapsing as millions of species teeter on the brink of extinction.
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We must end these relentless and senseless Wars on Nature. We have the tools, the knowledge and the solutions. We need to massively scale-up investment now.
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War on Nature exposes the world of forest destruction and endangered species and the race to protect them.
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This new film series takes the audience to the world’s most critical frontline battles in the War on Nature.
From the air we breathe to the water we drink to the soil that grows our food, humanity’s health depends on the health of Mother Earth.
