About our NGO

How everything started –
the founding story of our organisation

Nepada Wildlife e.V. was founded in 2017 by veterinarian Hannah Emde and non-profit expert Jannes Vahl. Hannah inspired like-minded nature lovers with her personal experience from conservation projects in various biodiversity hotspots around the world. This led to the idea of doing more for global wildlife conservation.

It quickly became clear that successful wildlife conservation can only succeed in coherence with the protection of the associated habitats and in collaboration with the locals. To make this work, the founding team of Nepada Wildlife combines many skills and is just as colourful and diverse as biodiversity itself. In addition to passion, the protection of biodiversity requires a great deal of experience in the fields of communication, education, finance, public relations, biology, agriculture and forestry, medicine, management consultancy, administration and development policy. The organisation’s statutes and objectives were drawn up together with all these functions in order to define the guidelines for our joint work.

Nepada Wildlife wants to inspire people to protect biodiversity and contribute to the conservation and restoration of nature by supporting international wildlife conservation projects and educational work in Germany. The success of our projects shows that it’s not too late to protect biodiversity, together we can make a difference.

With the support of many volunteer experts, Nepada Wildlife is developing into an active and ambitious wildlife conservation organisation: our team continues to grow, which in turn has helped us grow the organisation steadily. And best of all – we have already gained many sponsors and supporters who are helping to shape the organisation – without you our work wouldn’t be possible!

Interview

Hannah Emde - Wildlife conservationist, presenter and founder of Nepada Wildlife e.V.

Since Hannah Emde's first project in 2017, the organisation has been working on various conservation projects in our planet's biodiverse regions. Below, Hannah explains how the organisation was founded – and what continues to drive her.

Hannah Emde – Founder and Chairwoman of Nepada Wildlife e.V. Image credit: ZDF/Tobias Schult

The interview with Hannah Emde
was conducted by Nina Kirst in February 2024

You are a licensed veterinarian and have worked on research projects around the world. You're also a representative for wildlife conservation as a presenter of ‘Terra X: Fascination Earth’ (national TV) and have co-founded Nepada Wildlife e.V. in 2017. What drives you?

I want to inspire enthusiasm for nature and animals and educate people about their importance and benefits for us humans. We must not live at the expense of nature, but should live in harmony with it wherever possible. This requires respect, but also an intelligent approach to nature. One key to protecting it is a circular economy with the sustainable use of resources in order to maintain that precious balance. We are pursuing this with Nepada Wildlife e.V. and all my other projects aim towards this common goal as well.

Nowhere do I feel as humble as in the wild.“

How did you make wildlife conservation your mission?

I have always wanted to be a vet, but realised during my studies that I was not only interested in dogs, cats, and horses, but found a particular fascination for wild animals. Conservation medicine plays an important role for biodiversity: not only the health of the individual animal is important, but I look at the entire population or species and treat it in interaction with their habitat. Healthy animals (and people) only exist in a healthy habitat, on a healthy planet. For me, there is nothing more beautiful than observing a wild animal in its natural environment. Whether that’s a squirrel in the forest, an orangutan in Borneo, or an orca near the Galapagos Islands – nowhere do I feel as humble as in the wild.

Why did you decide to set up your own organisation? And how did you go about it?

During my studies, the topics of species protection and conservation medicine were given far too little attention. I only learnt more about this work and the importance of biodiversity during my internships at various research stations in the semester breaks and during my practical year. These impressions prompted me to become active myself and found Nepada Wildlife. With a team of seven experts and after numerous meetings with specialised tax advisors and lawyers, drafting an association statute, and opening our donation account, we founded the non-profit Nepada Wildlife e. V. in 2017. The organisation opened up completely new opportunities for us both nationally and internationally. We thrive on being able to provide targeted financial support for projects by collecting funds via the donations account.

How did the name originate?

Deep in the Borneo jungle, I encountered a wild Sunda clouded leopard for the first time. This extremely rare and beautiful big cat is only found on the jungle island of Borneo and on Sumatra. Its fur pattern is reminiscent of clouds which gives the species its name. As the last remaining big cat on Borneo it is extremely affected by the loss of habitat on the island. If more rainforest is cut down, clouded leopards will soon die out, and without these large predators, the entire food chain gets out of balance. The encounter had a huge impact on me, which influenced the naming of the organisation – Nepada Wildlife – an association for species conservation and environmental education, named after the German word for the clouded leopard – Nepelparder.

„Us as humans are dependant on nature being intact.“

Education is a very important aspect of your work. You write about wildlife conservation in your book ‘Night Shift with Macaws’, give lectures, and can be seen on television in ‘Terra X: Fascination Earth’.

Do you feel that you are getting through to people?

I very much hope so. I want to take people with me on my travels, explain the connections, and make distant worlds accessible. Not with a wagging finger, I wouldn’t want that, but rather with sincere interest through my personal fascination. If we truly understand how dependent humans are on intact nature, on diverse habitats and healthy animals, then we won’t find it difficult to protect them.

What can we do to engage in successful wildlife conservation?

Wildlife conservation should always be pursued in collaboration with locals. We must succeed in ensuring that we can all live well, all around the world, without destroying or overexploiting nature. To achieve this, we must limit our economic growth to a level that is compatible with nature, as we share our living space with plants and animals. Even if we often don’t realise in everyday, modern life: As humans, we are dependent on intact nature. That is why it is crucially important that we stand united in the fight against the disappearance of biodiversity.

At Nepada Wildlife, we support local experts or organisations in biodiverse regions that are most familiar with their flora and fauna. For example, our partner Rhino and Forest Fund e.V. combines habitat protection with species conservation and support for local experts in Borneo. Personally, I believe in the fascination that comes from nature, and in science and research. And in the realisation that less, and more conscious consumption, often is more.