Karl Ammann, Time Magazine's "Hero of the Environment" Options

[Ross]

Karl (on the left) receiving the Special Genesis Award for the Media Work in exposing the bushmeat crisis

I first came across the name Karl Ammann when I was researching Conservation Photography. His web site was one of many I visited and it’s the one that impressed me the most. I was fascinated by this man and was even more so fascinated what he does and how he does it!

Karl is not afraid of being forward and he uses this to get his message across. The message being “Africa’s wildlife is in trouble”.

After spending time on his own website, I googled his name and the results were not at all surprising.

Karl was born in Switzerland in 1948 but has been living in Africa for the last thirty years.

He began working as a photographer at the Maasai Mara and he published his first book in 1984. The book was titled “Cheetah” and many more books have been published since. The latest books are “consuming nature” and “Great Ape Odyssey”.

You can find a listing of his books at by visiting www.karlammann.com. On the first page of his website is a picture of a Gorilla and you can not help but look straight into it’s eyes but 3 seconds later the picture changes to that of a giant forest tree being cut down.

Karl’s website is dedicated to conserving Africa’s Wildlife and his photography can be very confronting but the message is very clear, Africa’s wildlife is being slaughtered.

He is an accomplished photographer and all images on his site were taken by him.

A Gorilla’s head rests next to a bunch of bananas, a young chimpanzee in chains, the butchered body of a Gorilla - this man is on a mission and I can not help admire him for it.

His photographs have helped bring attention to the plight of Africa’s Wildlife and his words have been published in many magazines and websites. One of his quotes that I found on the web is:

“There's two to three elephants crossing the border in smoked form every day, meaning about a thousand elephants a year, and that's totally unsustainable. Two or three years more and that will be the end”

Time Magazine has named him Hero of the Environment and Environmental Journalist of the year and you can read the article Time magazine has published of him by clicking on the link: www.time.com/time/specials/2007/art...1669914,00.html

Besides the Time awards he has also won the Dolly Green award for artistic achievement for his work to publicise the bushmeat issue.

In 1999 he won the Chimfunshi Pal award in recognition of his work to raise awareness of the plight of chimpanzees.

In 2000 he won the special Genesis Award for the media work in exposing the bushmeat crisis.

Who is Karl Ammann and how did you get involved with Conservation in Africa?

Somebody with an affinity for nature, the wild and wildlife. Came to Africa 30 years ago mostly for the above reasons. Had mental well being seriously affected by 'the end of the wild'- developments experienced in the last two decades and decided to make his feelings and view points known.

Are you based in Africa and if so where?

Up in the foothills of Mt. Kenya.

What is the history of karlammann.com and how is it used to to protect and or conserve a species such as the Gorillas?

The web site came out of the book projects. People asking me for images and trying to get them in high resolution from Mt. Kenya to somebody in New York was often difficult. Doing the same via a web site, with a US based administrator, was a lot easier.

Are you involved in any other conservation projects outside of Africa?

I have dome some work in SE Asia and a book on Orang Utans and great apes which involved Oran Utans. While these are not really projects as such they are meant to highlight problems and issues which might be addressable with specific projects.

Just how much time do you put into travelling, taking pictures etc?

About half of my time.

The images on your site are very confronting. Is this done on purpose and why?

It is the type of imagery which is hard to sell and get published but nevertheless represents the kind of reality anybody interested in conservation is and should be confronted with.

In the years you have been doing this, what are some of the challenges you faced?

My mental well being since it is essentially a very depressing business looking for the realities on the conservation front.

With the Bushmeat trade, who do you think is to blame and do you believe there will be an end in the near future?

One of my favorite saying is: The more they say things change the more they seem to stay the same. So, no nothing will really change. The main culprit is poor governance in the range countries concerned and the dark side of human nature that of selfishness and greed. Hiding behind such easy to come by slogans as 'food security' and 'poverty alleviation' are essentially just an excuse not to have to deal with the realities.

What is your interpretation of "feel good conservation"?

Fund raising based on selling small pilot projects, paper parks, unaudited community conservation programs etc as some kind of solutions when any independent third party auditing would illustrate what is wrong with many if not most of these projects.

Recently on Safaritalk I did a feature on conservation photography, what is your definition of "conservation photography" and is it a useful tool?

If you tell me what your definition of 'conservation photography' is then I will tell you if it is useful. If by conservation photography we are taking about illustrating 'the beauty of nature' and that in turn is to inspire the masses to want to conserve it, then I consider it a failure. It is what every nature photographer has been doing for the last 30 years and things have gotten a lot worse in the process.

I feel conservation photography should concentrate on the '2x4' approach. Hitting people over the head with a 2x4 - images which hurt and which can not be ignored.

Besides your wife, can you name one other person you met on your travels who left an impression on you?

On my travels I have met a lot of missionaries of various denominations. While I do not share some of their ambitions and goals I have found many with the kind of tenacity and committed I never seem to find in field conservationists (during the prime war years in the Congo, dozens of missionaries stayed on - in the field - not Kinshasa) and worked with the people. I only know of one conservationist who stayed on all the time - in Bukavu.

Can you name one animal story which again, touched you in a special way?

I once initiated the confiscation of a chimp tied to an old car wreck outside Yaounde. I then drove him to a sanctuary at the coast. A few years later I went back to the sanctuary. He left his group of friends came over to the fence and just stared at me. Clearly he had recognized me or at least knew he knew me from somewhere.

How has "not being shy at being forward" help you achieve what you have so far achieved?

If political correctness is equated with being shy, then I would not want to be shy. Not dealing with the realities and the ability at self deception is another one of humans darker side referred to above.

Do you believe magazines such as the National Geographic do a good job covering environmental disasters and or environmental achievements?

They are starting to be a little more progressive (dealing with issues such as global warming). Up to know they were in the business of entertaining (which the corresponding TV channels still are). The idea was to not upset or loose any viewers/readers so every story had to have a happy or uplifting ending, telling of success or at least have a hero in it. That was the background to deal with any conservation tale irrespective of the realities on the ground.

How important is it for you to have the Time magazine name you "Hero of the Environment" and "Environmental Journalist of the year"?

Hopefully it will make it more difficult by the establishment to label me as a radical extremist.

What is it that gives you the drive to keep going and to keep doing what you are doing?

The only area where I feel I can and maybe have made a difference is to take away the excuse of policy makers and some of the concerned public in general of: "I did not know'.

The views expressed therein are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of Safaritalk.

[Ross]

Karl (on the left) receiving the Special Genesis Award for the Media Work in exposing the bushmeat crisis

I first came across the name Karl Ammann when I was researching Conservation Photography. His web site was one of many I visited and it’s the one that impressed me the most. I was fascinated by this man and was even more so fascinated what he does and how he does it!

Karl is not afraid of being forward and he uses this to get his message across. The message being “Africa’s wildlife is in trouble”.

After spending time on his own website, I googled his name and the results were not at all surprising.

Karl was born in Switzerland in 1948 but has been living in Africa for the last thirty years.

He began working as a photographer at the Maasai Mara and he published his first book in 1984. The book was titled “Cheetah” and many more books have been published since. The latest books are “consuming nature” and “Great Ape Odyssey”.

You can find a listing of his books at by visiting www.karlammann.com. On the first page of his website is a picture of a Gorilla and you can not help but look straight into it’s eyes but 3 seconds later the picture changes to that of a giant forest tree being cut down.

Karl’s website is dedicated to conserving Africa’s Wildlife and his photography can be very confronting but the message is very clear, Africa’s wildlife is being slaughtered.

He is an accomplished photographer and all images on his site were taken by him.

A Gorilla’s head rests next to a bunch of bananas, a young chimpanzee in chains, the butchered body of a Gorilla - this man is on a mission and I can not help admire him for it.

His photographs have helped bring attention to the plight of Africa’s Wildlife and his words have been published in many magazines and websites. One of his quotes that I found on the web is:

“There's two to three elephants crossing the border in smoked form every day, meaning about a thousand elephants a year, and that's totally unsustainable. Two or three years more and that will be the end”

Time Magazine has named him Hero of the Environment and Environmental Journalist of the year and you can read the article Time magazine has published of him by clicking on the link: www.time.com/time/specials/2007/art...1669914,00.html

Besides the Time awards he has also won the Dolly Green award for artistic achievement for his work to publicise the bushmeat issue.

In 1999 he won the Chimfunshi Pal award in recognition of his work to raise awareness of the plight of chimpanzees.

In 2000 he won the special Genesis Award for the media work in exposing the bushmeat crisis.

Who is Karl Ammann and how did you get involved with Conservation in Africa?

Somebody with an affinity for nature, the wild and wildlife. Came to Africa 30 years ago mostly for the above reasons. Had mental well being seriously affected by 'the end of the wild'- developments experienced in the last two decades and decided to make his feelings and view points known.

Are you based in Africa and if so where?

Up in the foothills of Mt. Kenya.

What is the history of karlammann.com and how is it used to to protect and or conserve a species such as the Gorillas?

The web site came out of the book projects. People asking me for images and trying to get them in high resolution from Mt. Kenya to somebody in New York was often difficult. Doing the same via a web site, with a US based administrator, was a lot easier.

Are you involved in any other conservation projects outside of Africa?

I have dome some work in SE Asia and a book on Orang Utans and great apes which involved Oran Utans. While these are not really projects as such they are meant to highlight problems and issues which might be addressable with specific projects.

Just how much time do you put into travelling, taking pictures etc?

About half of my time.

The images on your site are very confronting. Is this done on purpose and why?

It is the type of imagery which is hard to sell and get published but nevertheless represents the kind of reality anybody interested in conservation is and should be confronted with.

In the years you have been doing this, what are some of the challenges you faced?

My mental well being since it is essentially a very depressing business looking for the realities on the conservation front.

With the Bushmeat trade, who do you think is to blame and do you believe there will be an end in the near future?

One of my favorite saying is: The more they say things change the more they seem to stay the same. So, no nothing will really change. The main culprit is poor governance in the range countries concerned and the dark side of human nature that of selfishness and greed. Hiding behind such easy to come by slogans as 'food security' and 'poverty alleviation' are essentially just an excuse not to have to deal with the realities.

What is your interpretation of "feel good conservation"?

Fund raising based on selling small pilot projects, paper parks, unaudited community conservation programs etc as some kind of solutions when any independent third party auditing would illustrate what is wrong with many if not most of these projects.

Recently on Safaritalk I did a feature on conservation photography, what is your definition of "conservation photography" and is it a useful tool?

If you tell me what your definition of 'conservation photography' is then I will tell you if it is useful. If by conservation photography we are taking about illustrating 'the beauty of nature' and that in turn is to inspire the masses to want to conserve it, then I consider it a failure. It is what every nature photographer has been doing for the last 30 years and things have gotten a lot worse in the process.

I feel conservation photography should concentrate on the '2x4' approach. Hitting people over the head with a 2x4 - images which hurt and which can not be ignored.

Besides your wife, can you name one other person you met on your travels who left an impression on you?

On my travels I have met a lot of missionaries of various denominations. While I do not share some of their ambitions and goals I have found many with the kind of tenacity and committed I never seem to find in field conservationists (during the prime war years in the Congo, dozens of missionaries stayed on - in the field - not Kinshasa) and worked with the people. I only know of one conservationist who stayed on all the time - in Bukavu.

Can you name one animal story which again, touched you in a special way?

I once initiated the confiscation of a chimp tied to an old car wreck outside Yaounde. I then drove him to a sanctuary at the coast. A few years later I went back to the sanctuary. He left his group of friends came over to the fence and just stared at me. Clearly he had recognized me or at least knew he knew me from somewhere.

How has "not being shy at being forward" help you achieve what you have so far achieved?

If political correctness is equated with being shy, then I would not want to be shy. Not dealing with the realities and the ability at self deception is another one of humans darker side referred to above.

Do you believe magazines such as the National Geographic do a good job covering environmental disasters and or environmental achievements?

They are starting to be a little more progressive (dealing with issues such as global warming). Up to know they were in the business of entertaining (which the corresponding TV channels still are). The idea was to not upset or loose any viewers/readers so every story had to have a happy or uplifting ending, telling of success or at least have a hero in it. That was the background to deal with any conservation tale irrespective of the realities on the ground.

How important is it for you to have the Time magazine name you "Hero of the Environment" and "Environmental Journalist of the year"?

Hopefully it will make it more difficult by the establishment to label me as a radical extremist.

What is it that gives you the drive to keep going and to keep doing what you are doing?

The only area where I feel I can and maybe have made a difference is to take away the excuse of policy makers and some of the concerned public in general of: "I did not know'.

The views expressed therein are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of Safaritalk.

[Guest_John Milbank_*]

The images on your site are very confronting. Is this done on purpose and why?

It is the type of imagery which is hard to sell and get published but nevertheless represents the kind of reality anybody interested in
conservation is and should be confronted with

I haven't had the opportunity to take photographs like this. However, I have taken a few confronting images which fit the description in the quote above and which reinforce my feeling that a great many nature photographers are interested only in the kind of reality which pleases them aesthetically. OK, that's their right, but what sort of hope does that attitude of self-professed nature lovers give the rest of us? It does tell me that nature photographers in general are no different from the rest of the population-- many profess a love for wildlife but the sentiment in reality is far from genuine.

Somebody in another thread went on about photographers stroking their own egos. In a way he was right-- but I really do wish he had considered that in truth, some of the people he shares this forum with are not like that.

As for the general tenor of the Ammann interview, it explains why I do not share anybody's optimism about the future of the natural world in human hands.

[Guest_nyama_*]

OFF TOPIC

Karl's first book is a MUST for Hari.

[Guest_nyama_*]

OFF TOPIC

As for the general tenor of the Ammann interview, it explains why I do not share anybody's optimism about the future of the natural world in human hands.

I just finished reading Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" which puts our role quite good into perspective. I guess the natural world will survive us.

[Guest_John Milbank_*]

I guess the natural world will survive us.

It will need to...so human hands no longer have a role

[Atravelynn]

This was one powerful interview. Then the photos, equally powerfully. The 2 x 4 effect was achieved even with this small sampling of photos. Congratulations to Kal Ammann on his Hero of the Environment award by Time Magazine.

Historically speaking we humans are a flash in the pan.

[predator]

Very hard hitting photos and a great interview.

Its difficult to know whether to put hard hitting photos on a site - on the one hand they drive the message home, but on the other hand you dont really want to distress people - especially children who may visit a site. Having read the interview I'm tempted to upload some of the hard hitting photos I've got (supplied by one of the projects we fund), but need to think of how best to do it to minimise the risk of distressing people. I think a large warning may be required.

[Game Warden]

No please Predator, upload them: for those with a true interest in conservation will want to see them: as we have discussed in the past such issues need to be brought to the table. What do they say on TV, something like "Viewer discretion is advised."

[predator]

No please Predator, upload them: for those with a true interest in conservation will want to see them: as we have discussed in the past such issues need to be brought to the table. What do they say on TV, something like "Viewer discretion is advised."

OK, posted in a new topic - the horror of snares in the Predator Conservation Trust forum (in the conservation orgs section of Safaritalk).

[Ross]

Very hard hitting photos and a great interview.
Its difficult to know whether to put hard hitting photos on a site - on the one hand they drive the message home, but on the other hand you dont really want to distress people - especially children who may visit a site. Having read the interview I'm tempted to upload some of the hard hitting photos I've got (supplied by one of the projects we fund), but need to think of how best to do it to minimise the risk of distressing people. I think a large warning may be required.

having spent time reading and getting to know karl, I wanted to show these images because they represent who he is and what he does. I knew the images would attract attention but that is what Karl would want. Adding the image of the two Elephants brings balance and also shows that Karl does not just photograph butchered animals.

Ross