WAVES International Event- Portugal

I’ve just returned from Portugal where I did a talk and photography workshop as part of the WAVES Xth International Symposium on Wild Fauna being held at the University of Trásos-Montes and Alto Douro, in Vila Real city. Located in the North of Portugal close to the Douro Region, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

I greatly admire the people of Portugal for their very proactive work in wildlife conservation. So much going on there to educate and save what they have and their environment which I witnessed as part of Amigos do Cáster Festival in Ovar last year that you can see here. It was my third time to Portugal to talk about my conservation work. My first visit there was back in 2014 for the sustainability conference in Lisbon. Where I talked about the effects of the the palm oil industry on the rainforests and the special wildlife that live there.

On the first day I did a practical workshop,  providing the participants with some basic theory concepts related to wildlife photography, with different approaches, including some consideration about ethics and respect for wildlife and the main aspects to be considered by wildlife photographers. Afterwards we visited a nearby nature sanctuary and people that attended were able to put into practice the simple techniques I went through in the classroom.

On the first day of this two day event I did my my talk “Conservation with a Camera” giving a voice to the voiceless using the medium of photography. I went through my own passion for nature and how that took me into the work I do today and why.

The International symposium on wild fauna is a platform for international exchange of ideas, research and policy themes related to wildlife management, conservation and animal health. Its been going now for twenty years with an event each year in a different country. Around 150 participants are expected from all over the world. The conference will attract researchers, technicians on wild fauna management and conservation, veterinarians, representatives of government authorities, diagnostic laboratories and wild fauna management companies, and others.

The conference covered topical issues under the wild fauna subjects and the main topics will be : Wild fauna management and conservation;  Wild fauna photography seen by professional eyes and researchers; Wild fauna diseases under One Health approach; Effects of environmental changes on wild fauna and habitats. More detailed information on what was covered can be found on their website The programme was amazing over the several days, you can see more information on this here. 

The event also had an exhibition sharing many images from many different photographers from around the world. Connecting those that attended to the natural world,  it was an amazing inspiring event.

It was an amazing event to be part of, from the hotel, to the conference it was all brilliant and thank you to Joao Carrola and everyone that looked after me during my time in this beautiful part of northern Portugal.

If you’d like to see more information on my talks covering many aspects of my work then please click here to see what I offer, many thanks.