Lori Bergemann, Kenya Conservationist

As a young girl growing up in India, Lori always loved and respected elephants.  Every time she went to the local zoo, she felt sorry for them in their cages with a chain around their leg.

The path that led Lori to Kenya opened late in 1999 when her sister Heidi invited her on a special trip. At first they planned to return to India, but after a chance meeting with a tour operator and wildlife conservationist in Kenya, they decided to change their destination to Africa.

On their second day in Africa, “We were surrounded by wild elephants, I was so moved,” she recalls. “I thought, ‘This is where I am supposed to be.’”  They set up Amara Conservation, a US non –profit, and the UK charity Amara UK Trust, educating people about the importance of protecting and respecting the wildlife that surrounds them. They found the word ‘Amara’ in a dictionary. “It means ‘urgent need’ in Swahili,” she says. “We thought it was a pretty word’ – and urgent need is what we’re trying to address.”

If people understand why they have to keep their environment precious, and how they’re responsible for it they will all be more receptive to the idea of working against poaching, and finding their own solutions to the problems of a degrading environment.