World’s landscapes may soon be ‘devoid of wild animals’, says nature photographer | Climate crisis

Margot Raggett has spent the last decade raising money for conservation efforts around the world, but, for now, she’s feeling nervous about the future. “We feel like we’ve taken a step backwards,” she said.

The wildlife photographer has raised £1.2 million for the cause over the past 10 years through her Remembering Wildlife series, an annual not-for-profit picture book featuring images of animals taken by the world’s leading wildlife photographers. The first edition was published in 2015, when the Paris climate agreement was being drafted, but since then efforts to tackle the climate crisis have been undermined.

Under Donald Trump, the United States withdrew from the agreement in 2020. Joe Biden reversed that decision the following year, but on the first day of his second presidential term, Trump announced that the United States would withdraw again. In the United Kingdom, the British Conservatives and Reformists have pledged to abandon the net zero emissions target for 2050 if they come to power.

“Compared to a few years ago, there was a desire for renewable energy rather than oil drilling all over the world. I think the importance of nature is something we all need to hold on to,” Raggett said.

Despite this, she has some hope. “I’m nervous, but I’m also encouraged that there are so many people who still seem to care. I’ll do everything I can to keep my end of the bargain and keep fighting. And I know there are plenty of other people who feel the same way, so time will tell, but we certainly can’t be complacent.”

As a reminder of just how difficult the outlook is for wildlife right now, this year’s issue, titled Ten Years of Remembering Wildlife, is published alongside original and edited images of animals, including polar bears, cheetahs and pangolins, living in and then being evicted from their natural habitats.

Raggett said these images were intended to be “provocative” and provide a glimpse into the future if we stay on our current path. “Wildlife decline is so rapid across the world and there is a lot of work to be done to reverse the trend. We could really envision a future where these landscapes are without these wildlife,” she said. “That’s why we created it, to make people think and understand what could happen if we don’t act.”

Although she has spent most of her photography career away from the UK, in Kenya, Tanzania and Bhutan, she has a few concerns closer to home. The government has committed to building 1.5 million homes by the end of its first parliamentary term.

As part of the effort, ministers asked the Environment Agency to push through applications for building permits in England with minimal resistance, a move that dismayed environmental campaigners. Earlier this month, the Guardian revealed that Rachel Reeves was boasting about unblocking a 20,000-home development blocked by “a few snails on the site that are a protected species or something”.

Ragett called for a “massive pause” in the government’s “short-sighted” plans to speed up house building. “What everyone needs to understand is that we are all connected to nature,” she said. “It’s very easy in a country built like ours to not understand the role each species plays in our ecosystem, how they keep our trees growing and the impact that has on removing carbon from the atmosphere.

“I feel like there’s enough brownfield land in this country that could and should be redeveloped before we lose more countryside. We’ve lost so much already. I think there should be a massive pause.”

Ragett was inspired to create the Remembering Wildlife project after encountering a poached elephant in Kenya. “He had a poisoned arrow in him, and then he started getting eaten by hyenas. I was so horrified and I felt so helpless… so I was determined to try and do something,” she said.

She said efforts to combat illegal poaching have been mixed. “The impact of poaching rhinos for their horns in South Africa remains horrific. I have friends who live there and the rate of poaching is shocking, but there have also been some victories. China’s ban on ivory a few years ago certainly had an impact, but this ivory then appears in the illegal trade elsewhere in Asia,” she said.

Addressing demand, particularly in Asia where poached products are used in traditional medicine, is one of the most important ways to reduce the practice, Raggett said. “Poaching remains a huge criminal industry and it’s not going anywhere. It’s still very rampant.”

In early October, world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall died at the age of 91. Raggett had met her in 2018. “I was blown away by her work ethic and determination. She had just gotten off an overnight flight from Tanzania. At my age I would be taking a nap the next morning and yet she had a line of people waiting to meet her. She was totally inspiring and encouraging and had a real humility in the way she spoke,” she said. “She has a remarkable legacy full of wisdom and humor too.”