About

‘A true love and appreciation of wild places and the people who live within them is rooted deep in Joanna, and is reflected throughout her writing.’
Jean du Plessis, Safari guide, Founder of Wayo Africa, Presenter, Animal Planet

‘A really beautifully written piece which absolutely captures your Moroccan experience, thank you.’
Alex Edwards, Natural High Safaris

‘This article is superb, Joanna, I couldn’t be happier.  Many thanks indeed and congratulations.’

Will Jones, Founder, Journeys by Design and Wild Philanthropy

 

‘It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much that makes life worth living.’ – Sir David Attenborough

I am an enterprising and award-winning story-teller, author, editor and communications consultant. 

For twenty years I have been writing about nature, wildlife conservation and indigenous cultures and I am committed to reporting on stories about the beauty of and threats to the natural world, its wildlife and the indigenous peoples who live close to nature.  

The human brain is hard-wired to love stories; tales that connect us with the magic of the natural world.  As the Earth has lost 60% of its wildlife in the past 40 years, these stories urgently need to be unearthed and heard; I believe in the power of story-telling to drive change, and I am passionate about the importance of human connection to nature.

My ideas, thinking and stories have been informed by time spent in remote places and landscapes with tribal peoples, wildlife scientists, anti-poaching rangers, farmers, bush guides, explorers and conservationists.

Assignments and projects have taken me from the Serengeti to the Selous, from the the Canadian sub-Arctic to the Mongolian steppe. I have researched and written about: lion, dolphin and Black rhino conservation, sustainability, illegal wildlife-trafficking, bio-diversity, carbon-offsetting and climate change, indigenous rights, wildlife migration, eco-tourism, human-wildlife conflict, marine conservation, species extinction, tribal languages, man’s place in the natural world, Farms for City Children, and many others.  Joanna’s portfolio of commissions.

 
SELECT CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
 
*Speechwriter to H.R.H. The Prince of Wales on integrated health / environment subjects
 
*Winner at the Atta Media Awards 2019, which ‘celebrates journalism excellence and recognises creative and inspiring content.’
 
*Portfolio of features in global titles including Bylines include:  National Geographic, The Times, BBC Wildlife, The Geographical, Observer, Guardian, Condé Nast, Daily Mail, Independent, Atlantic, Huffington Post, Alternet, Paris Match, El Mundo, The Ecologist, Resurgence, Travel Africa, Sidetracked, Terre Sauvage, and others.  I was invited to join National Geographic Voices as a regular contributor after my in-depth article on the world’s last uncontacted tribes received over 10,000 ‘likes’
 
*Creator, author and Editor of three photographic anthologies designed to inspire new audiences about nature, including ‘We are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples’ (for Survival International, published by Quadrille, 2009), and ‘Portrait of England’ (for the Campaign to Protect Rural England, published by Think Publishing, 2006). Click here for book details.  

*Actor Sir Mark Rylance directed a theatre performance based on ‘We are One’ at the Apollo Theatre, London, in 2010. Cast included Gillian Anderson, Emilia Fox, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon

*Commissioned by The Rt Hon Lord Zac Goldsmith to lead and develop a TV documentary pilot for the BBC on an environmental project in Devon

*Commissioned by the late Paul Allen’s company, Vulcan Inc., to write the launch story about Vulcan’s new conservation technology

*Commissioned by Will Travers OBE, President of Born Free Foundation, to accompany him to Kenya to write a BBC cover story about the 50th anniversary of the film ‘Born Free’

*Commissioned by the Carbon Neutral Company to research, write and develop short films on carbon offset projects.

*Guest speaker on the power of storytelling to raise awareness of the natural world at Hay Festival, Royal Geographical Society’s ‘Explore’ conference, Falmouth University and the Bristol Natural History Consortium.   

Selected Work

Feature Commissions:

  • Tracking chimpanzees in the Mahale rainforest, Tanzania (The Times)
  • The world’s last uncontacted tribes (National Geographic)
  • The world’s most threatened tribe (Independent)
  • Living with lions (BBC Wildlife Magazine)
  • The return of wild horses to the Mongolia (Geographical)
  • A journey through Galicia’s wild west (Observer)
  • Dolphin tracking in the Alboran Sea (The Times)
  • The Hadza hunter-gatherer tribe of the Great Rift Valley (Life Force Magazine)
  • The nomadic Nenets of Siberia (Atlantic)
  • Karapiru (Independent on Sunday)
  • Born Free: the legacy (BBC Wildlife magazine)
  • Tribal Heroines (Guardian)
  • Cultural concepts of wilderness (Huffington Post)
  • Trekking in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains (Daily Beast)
  • Gardens of Cornwall (Guardian)
  • On patrol with anti-rhino poaching rangers in Kenya (Daily Beast)
  • Wildebeest migration in Tanzania (Journeys Magazine)
  • Walking with Innu Indians across Canadian sub-arctic (Sidetracked Magazine)
  • Why tribal languages matter (Guernica magazine)
  • ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ and the effect on children (Huffington Post)
  • Patrick Leigh-Fermor and the remote Mani peninsula (Daily Beast)
  • Trekking in the northern Serengeti (Daily Beast)
  • Michael and Clare Morpurgo’s ‘Farms for City Children’ (Huffington Post)
  • Travelling in the footsteps of David Livingstone in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana (Daily Mail)
  • Sleeping in a Santorini cave (Daily Beast)
  • The writings of Bartolome de las Casas (Guernica)
  • Samburu warriors and the conservation of the world’s rare Grevys Zebra (National Geographic ‘Voices’).

Blog and Social Media:

Clients:

  • Zac Goldsmith
  • Soil Association
  • PRIDE Alliance
  • Survival International
  • Forster PR
  • Hill and Knowlton Sustainability
  • Wayo Africa
  • Carbon Neutral Company
  • Borana Conservancy
  • Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
  • Natural High Safaris
  • Prince of Wales Foundation
  • Journeys by Design

Books:

  • We are One, a celebration of tribal peoples
  • Portrait of England
  • Liberty and Livelihood: a Portrait of life in Rural Britain

Talks:

  • Hay Festival
  • Falmouth University
  • Royal Geographical Society ‘Explore’ conference
  • Bristol Natural History Consortium’s ‘Communicate’ conference