In an exciting start to the new year, the Advanced Science Society were pleased to welcome Mr Nicholas Radford to deliver a lecture on Wildlife Conservation in the Congo Basin. Science and Geography A-Level pupils from Sherborne Girls were joined by Sixth Form pupils from Sherborne School to create a buzzing atmosphere in the Beddington Lecture Theatre.
After completing a degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford, Mr Radford entered the world of ‘normal’ employment, before being inspired to return to his roots seven years ago to work for the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Congo Basin. In his talk, he discussed his thoughts about the greatest threats to the future of the planet before taking us on a tour of some of the challenges that are faced when implementing conservation strategies in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in The Republic of Congo. A particularly striking point was made when he explained that they had discovered that elephant poaching in the area increased during the months when parents need to buy school equipment for their children, as well as in the months leading up to Christmas. The WCS have therefore put in place strategies to help negate this, including scholarships, providing equipment and setting up savings facilities. These methods have been incredibly successful in reducing elephant poaching in the area.
Mr Radford concluded his talk by returning to the ideas of future threats; how biodiversity hotspots (areas where high biodiversity is in decline) correlate with conflict and how increased infrastructure might lead to further pandemics. He finished with the idea that although he does not feel he uses knowledge from his Science degree in every day life, the skills that he learnt along the way have been invaluable in providing evidence-based solutions to the myriad problems faced in practical conservation.
