57. “Inspiring Change in Nature Conservation” with Brett Jenks, CEO of RARE.org
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Welcome to episode 57 of the Nurtured by Nature podcast, today I’m delighted to be joined in conversation by Brett Jenks, CEO of Rare, a solution orientated global conservation organisation with a distinctly human approach.
Rare was established over 50 years ago and has an innovative approach to designing nature conservation solutions. Unlike our historical models of creating national parks and wildlife reserves that exclude humans to preserve the natural environment, Rare refuses to view people as the problem, instead embracing them as intrinsic partners in creating successful conservation initiatives that enable both people and nature to thrive. Brett highlights several of Rare’s established projects that are partnering with local communities around the world to give them the support to become successful stewards of their own natural world, including the Fish Forever project that utilises a community led approach to restore, protect and sustainably manage coastal seas across 8 countries and also Lands For Life which is teaching Regenerative Agriculture to farmers across Columbia.
In this truly mindset shifting conversation Brett also shares how Rare have successfully utilised human behavioural insights into their groundbreaking approaches, which has led to them creating a video game that literally plants trees, the Climate Action Now App that empowers consumers to take small actions everyday to create change closer to home and the development of an innovative Impact Investment Fund to provide alternative financial backing for conservation.
Brett left me truly inspired, imagining what is possible as we break free of traditional conservation models and embrace the unlimited potential available when humans remember their role as stewards and set our intention to work with the amazing wisdom Mother Nature has. If you ever thought you couldn’t make a difference, Brett reminds us to think again and be inspired to help create change.
Learn more about Brett
Brett is the CEO of Rare, a nonprofit that has led environmental conservation projects for 50 years and impacted the lives of millions, helping people and nature thrive together through community-led efforts across 60 countries.
Brett was a journalist and film producer before he traveled to Costa Rica in 1992 for a government-partnered English teaching program. There, he designed an award-winning local ecotourism program for Rare and rose through the ranks to become CEO in 2000.
Under Brett’s leadership, Rare has grown 3,000% and expanded its budgets to $30M. He notably scaled Rare’s Fish Forever program of revitalizing coastal fisheries to reach 2,000 communities across 8 countries, and launched partnerships with government agencies, NGOs, and companies like Bloomberg Philanthropies, Meta, Netflix, UNDP, and Nat Geo.
He has dedicated 20+ years to changing the behavioral approach to conservation. His views have featured across major publications like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. In 2017, he was awarded the Rose-Walters Prize for Global Environmental Activism.
Website: https://rare.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rare_org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rare.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-jenks-9200196/
Other Useful Resources:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-we-financed-rays-like-finance-brett-jenks-ehgyf
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-soil-stupid-brett-jenks-tjtge
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/climate-change-great-destabilizer-brett-jenks
Thank you for being a part of this journey with me.
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