Storytelling-Agustí M. Vilà

Descripción del proyecto:

The Baird’s tapir, recognized as nature's 'gardeners of the forest,’ plays a vital role in shaping the ecological landscape of Costa Rica. While tapirs support forest regeneration across Central America, their influence becomes especially profound in the Guanacaste Mountain Range, where their dung sustains one of the region’s rarest trees: the Jícaro Danto (Parmentiera valerii). Its heavy, fibrous fruits can only be opened by tapirs—no other animal is capable of doing so. Tapirs, due to their large size, have assumed the role of large seed dispersers once carried out by now-extinct megafauna, performing an ancient ecological service few species can replace. After roaming for kilometers, they deposit Jícaro seeds in nutrient-rich dung, giving these endangered trees their only reliable chance to reproduce. Because of this role, the tapir also holds deep cultural significance for the Bribri, Costa Rica’s largest Indigenous community. In their creation stories, the tapir is an ancestral being from which fertile soil itself emerged—the origin of all life. As local conservationist Donald Varela Soto explains: “In Bribri culture, tapirs don’t just live in the forest—they are the forest.” Through their movement, seed dispersal, and the paths they carve, tapirs are seen as shaping and sustaining the land itself, including the survival of trees like the Jícaro Danto. However, both the tapir and the Jícaro Danto are endangered, listed on the IUCN Red List, and their populations are rapidly declining due to habitat loss, deforestation, and agricultural pressures. As fragmented forests push tapirs out of their natural habitats, they now venture into gardens, cattle pastures, and other human-shaped landscapes. The proximity of cattle further complicates matters, as the illegal beef trade exacerbates the spread of the screwworm—a flesh-eating parasite eradicated from Costa Rica 40 years ago but now re-emerging. Tapirs, often scarred from territorial battles or displaced by competition, carry open wounds that leave them especially vulnerable to infection from this parasite. Amid these pressures, a quiet but powerful conservation movement has taken root in the small village of Bijagua. Here, at the heart of the biological corridor between two volcanoes, local biologists, naturalists, and community members have united to safeguard the fragile relationship between tapir and tree. Together they track, treat, study, and protect the frontline in a struggle to keep an ancient symbiosis alive.

Descripción del proyecto:

Once widespread across Cambodia, the Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) has become one of the world’s rarest reptiles, with fewer than 150 mature individuals remaining in the wild within the country. Its decline mirrors the country’s own turbulent history: during the political and social upheavals that shook Cambodia from the 1970s to the 1990s, environmental protection collapsed, wetlands and riverine forests were rapidly converted into agricultural land, and wildlife was taken freely from the wild. Habitat loss, combined with hunting and dam construction, fragmented the remaining populations, making natural reproduction increasingly difficult. Adding to this, from the 1950s through the late 20th century, the crocodile-skin trade expanded sharply. Wild Siamese crocodiles were captured to supply the growing number of farms, which produced skins for the fashion industry. Although CITES regulations later reduced uncertified trade, certified Cambodian farms continue to supply skins and export juveniles even today. Today, strong conservation efforts aim to reverse this trend. In Siem Reap, Mark Dainty and the Angkor Wildlife and Aquarium team, in collaboration with Rising Phoenix, are breeding and releasing Siamese crocodiles into carefully selected sites chosen for their remoteness, year-round water availability, landscape integrity and, most importantly, protection from poaching and bycatch. Little by little, the species is reclaiming parts of its former range, though the paradox remains that its survival still depends on a population far larger in captivity than in the wild.

Descripción del proyecto:

Across southern Africa, vultures are disappearing from the skies. Poisoning, collisions with energy infrastructure and pressures from the illegal wildlife trade have pushed many species towards extinction. Among them is the Vulnerable Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres).

Vultures perform one of nature's most vital roles, swiftly removing carcasses from the landscape before disease can spread through wildlife populations and ecosystems.

While the threats facing vultures are well documented, far fewer people see the dedicated individuals working to prevent their decline.

At VulPro, every bird that arrives tells a different story. Some are victims of poisoning events, while others arrive with injuries sustained from powerline collisions. For many, survival depends on people who refuse to accept that another vulture should be lost.

This project follows that journey. From veterinary examinations and rehabilitation to the release of birds back into the wild, these images document the work taking place behind the scenes to safeguard a species in decline. They capture moments rarely witnessed and offer an insight into the dedication required to protect one of Africa's most important groups of birds.

Every bird released represents sustained commitment and dedication. Behind each one are the staff at VulPro. Working behind the scenes, they strive to ensure these birds have a future in the wild. The story extends beyond individual birds, highlighting efforts to strengthen populations through conservation breeding, research and long-term recovery programmes.

Through these photographs, I hope to highlight not only the challenges facing Africa's vultures, but also the organisations and people whose determination continues to give hope for their survival. In a world where wildlife stories often focus on decline, this is a story about those choosing to fight for a different outcome.

Descripción del proyecto:

En el Delta del Okavango, en el noroeste de Botswana, comunidades rurales conviven con la mayor población de elefantes africanos en libertad. A medida que la agricultura y los asentamientos humanos se expanden sobre antiguos corredores migratorios, la distancia entre ambos se reduce y los encuentros son cada vez más frecuentes y peligrosos.

Esta historia sigue la vida de agricultores como Abel, quien cada noche teme perder su cosecha, y con ella el sustento de su familia, ante la llegada de un elefante. En una región donde caminar kilómetros forma parte de la rutina diaria, un encuentro inesperado puede convertirse en una situación de vida o muerte. Al mismo tiempo, el proyecto incorpora la perspectiva de los elefantes: una especie que ha habitado este territorio durante milenios y que, al igual que las comunidades humanas, depende del acceso a agua, alimento y espacio para sobrevivir.

El conflicto se ha intensificado en las últimas décadas debido al crecimiento simultáneo de ambas poblaciones y a la transformación del paisaje. Sin embargo, más allá de esta tensión, también emergen soluciones. Desde medidas de protección de cultivos hasta estrategias de planificación territorial y educación ambiental, distintas iniciativas buscan reducir el enfrentamiento y abrir caminos hacia la coexistencia.

A través de este trabajo se propone una reflexión sobre cómo compartir el territorio con una especie emblemática, mostrando que la conservación no solo implica proteger la fauna, sino también comprender y apoyar a las comunidades que viven junto a ella.

Porque en el Okavango, la coexistencia no es solamente una idea, es una necesidad que definirá el futuro tanto de las personas como de los elefantes.