WHY DOES ANYTHING MATTER AT ALL?
YEAH, BLURRY PHOTO- But look at those stoked faces ^
Eco-tourism is touchy. There are about a million ways to do it wrong, and while there are a multitude of opportunities to attack from the correct angle, that’s unfortunately rarely the case. Humans have a special way about them, an ability to sour even the most “pure” and “wholesome” endeavors- whether intentionally, indirectly, or unknowingly. This is one area residing among the soft white underbelly of “conservation”.
As within any community or industry, it’s known that there are the “real ones”, the illegitimate, the ill-informed, and the ignorant. The planet’s health, from a contemporary standpoint is, to put it lightly, blasting her own brains out- and we are the bullet. As this happens, there are those that monopolize and financially capitalize on that- and the fact that the general populous wants to do something about it.
Somewhere in the crevices still shadowed by that looming profit-over-impact mindset, lie the ones doing the dirty work and the heavy lifting. This applies to eco-tourism, research, outreach, advocacy, activism, social media, education, and beyond. The theatres among the front lines of a silent war are many.
When establishing Serpentine, we had originally intended the brand to be simply the name of a short-format “Field Herping” show on a small streaming service. A fun, educational, and low-budget homemade series showcasing the modern, ethical, and functional ways of international field herping.
The brand quickly took off in a different direction, as we realized that we’ve stumbled upon a real opportunity to change on-screen semi-education/semi-entertainment into a full blown operation for impact.
Organically, between the two show “hosts” who also happened to be wilderness guides as side-gigs, the brand morphed into what it is today. A mixture of adventure travel, friends doing what they love in a meaningful way, and conservation through education. We reach for nothing less than a deeply inclusive atmosphere from all sides. This means collaborating with local, indigenous, and underrepresented minorities across the board & across the world.
This also means driving any and all available profit into making conservation worth doing, especially for a well paid logger or miner. This means annual impact reports, 30% of print profits donated to reputable NGOs doing serious frontlines work, and it means spreading love to the places that need it most. We aim to act as neurogenesis in a brain spread too thin.
For far too long, the agenda presented to prospective change-makers has been “there’s no money in conservation, get a real job that pays for you to travel and enjoy nature”. This must end, it’s the classic throw-a-stick-in-your-own-bike-spokes-and-crash situation. We have the power to make conservation worth doing for everyone involved, and maintain a measurable impact while doing it.
At Serpentine, we have enabled a trophy hunting camp in Zimbabwe to evolve into a snake-loving group of rock-flipping curiosity quenchers. In association with Tamandua Expeditions, Serpentine Co-Founder Ian Breland has helped sustain a warm-hearted ex-miner in Peru by simply bringing people to his own backyard and exploring it with him- reveling in the beats of butterfly wings and the strength of an Anaconda’s coils.
We have also brought much needed financial support to a wildlife research and rehabilitation center in Peru, funded the acquisition of essential property bordering Gunung Leuser National Park in Sumatra for a conservation law enforcement agency, and brought substantial resources to our friends at Ecophis Wildlife in order for them to continue mitigating snakebite in India through education. Eco-tourism can do good, under constant and vigilant scrutiny by those who have followed their hearts and not humanity’s churning machine of greed.
Operating with the utmost respect for our planet’s intrinsic value and the right to pursuit of resilience is Serpentine’s number one priority.
