Friends of the Sahara








Friends of the Sahara is a group of influential people dedicated to the conservation of the
Sahara’s unique natural and cultural heritage. They support SCF, its projects and its
programmes in a variety of ways, from providing core support, funding SCF projects, and in
general using their status as ambassadors to support the organization’s goals and mission.

Through their love of the desert, their influence and outreach, Friends of the Sahara is
playing a vital role in making sure deserts are not overlooked and that the wonder of the
Sahara’s beauty, culture, nature and fragility are communicated in compelling ways, through
science, writing, photography and sharing our mission.

Membership in Friends of the Sahara is by invitation of SCF’s Board Members and CEO. While
there is no financial obligation, some members have demonstrated their commitment to SCF
and the cause of desert conservation very generously.

Friends of the Sahara currently include:

Ms. Karen Sausman and The Living Desert

SCF salutes Karen Sausman, President and CEO of The Living Desert, as a true Friend of the Sahara. She has worked in zoological parks and in conservation since 1964. In 1970 she helped found The Living Desert, the first park of its kind dedicated exclusively to the conservation and interpretation of the fauna and flora of the world’s great deserts. Based in Palm Desert, California, USA, she and her staff of 150 employees manage 1800 acres with a diverse collection of animal and plant life that is enjoyed by over 350,000 visitors per year. Karen has served two terms on the Board of Directors of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) and has chaired the AZA’s Ethics Committee. She has been the international studbook keeper for several critically endangered desert species. She is a Steering Committee member on the IUCN/SSC/Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, as well as a founding board member for the International Species Information System (ISIS). Karen is currently serving as President for the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), a network comprised of nearly 12,000 zoological institutions around the world.

Her leadership and influence in desert conservation goes well beyond her park’s boundaries. Karen has played a pivotal role in launching SCF. The Living Desert helped found SCF by providing much-needed financial support for core activities and projects since SCF’s inception. More importantly, Karen’s willingness to lend the talents and energy of The Living Desert staff to help SCF fulfill its mission has been a tremendous boon to our fledgling NGO. Terrie Correll, COO of The Living Desert, is a founding board member and serves as SCF’s Secretary on the executive committee. Anne Fletcher-Jones, The Living Desert’s Animal Registrar, has been instrumental in SCF communications by providing timely translation of SCF documents. Karen and her staff have been passionate advocates for the Sahara. By both words and deeds, Karen and The Living Desert are directly responsible for bringing the Sahelo-Saharan conservation movement into the spotlight for the international zoo community. We salute Karen Sausman for using her strong voice to help SCF build a growing chorus of advocacy for the animals, plants and people of the Sahara.

Visit The Living Desert website.

 

  Mr. Jean Claude Gandur

  Mr. Jean Claude Gandur, a Swiss citizen, is Chairman of the Addax & Oryx Group,
  an integrated petroleum and mining company operating mostly in Africa, in the
  Middle East and in the Caspian Region. His interest in the desert is directly
  linked to his passion for Africa, which has been the vital lead of both his private
and professional life. Having grown up in Egypt, Mr Gandur is familiar with and fascinated by its
unique beauty. Whereas desert may be commonly associated with emptiness, Mr Gandur finds it
one of the most spectacularly beautiful and amazing landscapes on the planet, offering a
tremendous and unexpected diversity of animal and plant life. As a symbol of the extraordinarily
potential of areas deemed to offer little, Mr. Gandur and the co-founders of the Addax & Oryx
Group made the choice in 1987 to name their newly created company after two typically Saharan
antelopes. To help support SCF's addax conservation strategy, Addax Petroleum Corporation is
making a substantial donation.

Visit the Addax Petroleum Corporation website.

 

  Ms. Iara Lee

  Iara Lee is of Korean descent, born and raised in Brazil. She was the producer
  of the Sao Paulo International Film Festival from 1984 to 1989. She moved to
  New York City in 1989, where she founded the mixed-media arts and culture
  company, Caipirinha Productions, to explore the synergy of different art forms.
Under the umbrella of Caipirinha, Iara directed short and full length documentaries, released
electronic music cds, published books, and organized lectures, photo exhibits and fund raising
events. Since Iara's goal in life is to promote social and political awareness, education for action,
and action for change, she launched the Lee & Gund Foundation in 2004, a grant-making
foundation focusing on global solidarity and socio-environmental justice. Iara is an active
member of the Global Philanthropy Circle, where international philanthropists meet to find
effective strategies and partnerships, member of the Council of Advisors board of National
Geographic Society and a nominator for the Aga Khan Architecture Award. She travels extensively working to make positive change by bringing the economically powerful and the excluded to the bargaining table.

Visit Caipirinha.

 

  Dr. Jeremy Swift

  Dr. Jeremy Swift’s main professional interests have been with nomadic 
  pastoralists in and around the world’s great deserts. He wrote his doctoral
  dissertation on the pastoral Twareg in Mali’s Adrar n Iforas mountains, and has
  worked with Twareg and Wodaabe pastoralists in Mali and Niger, Turkana, Boran, Somali and Beja pastoralists in northern Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, with Jabali herders in the
dew forest bordering the Empty Quarter in Oman, on Bakhtyari and Qashqai pastoralists in Iran,
and on Mongol and Tibetan pastoralists in Mongolia and China. As researcher and policy adviser,
Jeremy has worked to strengthen pastoral economies and livelihoods. He has explored how to
ensure that they are economically and ecologically sustainable, and on reconciling pastoralism
with wildlife and habitat conservation. During his career, Jeremy, a British citizen, has worked
for the International Wildfowl Research Bureau, FAO, the Institute for the Study of International
Organisation, and until recently the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
Jeremy has written several books on the desert, as well as narrating a film on desertification,
Sahara: the Edge of Existence, for the BBC 1 Horizon programme.