I created BeProvided Conservation Radio after being fed up with the onslaught of news around the devastation and sadness regarding the human-wildlife relationship. Those negative stories left me disheartened and I felt there is no way to turn this situation around. I felt powerless and helpless. Luckily, I did not give up completely. I decided to put myself out in the world by volunteering to help save what wildlife I could.
The creation of my podcast began after a trip to Namibia where I was a working guest for the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). It was there, where I began to understand the power of positive stories. At CCF, I was surrounded by hardworking, multi-disciplinary and dedicated people from all over the world. I worked alongside photographers, scientists, interns, educators, and artists and realized these people are doing so much good for not only the cheetahs but for the surrounding communities. They are ambitious and do not even think of giving up the fight. Their stories need to be heard.
I created BeProvided Conservation Radio to provide these and many more stories of hope to the world. I returned home and continued my quest to interview people and organizations doing good for my podcast series. One year later and I am producing weekly episodes and gaining momentum with hundreds to thousands of downloads per month.
Late 2017 while shopping at a local natural food store in Santa Cruz I found the Wild Hope magazine. There was a picture of a beautiful wolf with bright yellow eyes staring right at me luring me in. Bold font on the cover displayed Wild Hope: Field Notes and Images From Nature's Front Lines. I turned through the pages and read stories of hope and saw so many beautiful photographs. I couldn't believe my eyes! This magazine is a printed version of my podcast. I am not alone! I knew I had to get the creator of Wild Hope on my show to share her story.
It took a little bit of time to coordinate our schedules but this spring I finally sat down to have a conversation with the co-creator and story curator of Wild Hope; Kathyrn Arnold. You can hear Kathyrn's story about her love for animals and the need to create these beautiful publications on Tuesday, June 12, 2018.
Kathryn grew up in a military family and as you can imagine, some of the places (military bases) she lived were devoid of most natural things. Even though she realized the effect nature had on her at a young age, she didn't get involved with animals until her 50s. Although, "Being in nature has always been self-soothing," she states. Her wildlife passion blossomed as she volunteered for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California. During our conversation, I found so many parallels between her life and mine that it was refreshing to know that we are not alone. We are not giving up hope, we will keep fighting.
Please check out Wild Hope and let it take you across the US and the world where you can learn about the good in people.
Where to find more about Wild Hope:
www.wildhope.org
https://www.facebook.com/wildhopemagazine/
http://www.earthisland.org