Wildlife Messengers
Films for Conservation
Wildlife Messengers
EIN: 82-1888245
as of September 2024
as of September 09, 2024
Mission
Wildlife Messengers’ mission is to conserve wildlife and habitats through scientific research, on-the-ground action, and communication. We achieve these aims by conducting studies in disciplines such as conservation genetics and biology, by working with local communities to develop sustainable livelihoods, by safeguarding traditional knowledge, and by making scientific and educational films, photographs, and audio recordings. Many of our projects take place in countries with lower industrial bases. Our communications target national and international audiences including government authorities, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, local and indigenous communities, and global audiences.
Ruling year
2017
Treasurer
George Olah PhD
Vice President
Cintia Garai PhD
Main address
5645 Hard Rock Place
Richmond, VA 23230 USA
EIN
82-1888245
Wildlife biodiversity
Natural resources
Film and video
Population served
Adults
Indigenous peoples
Academics
NTEE code
Natural Resource Conservation and Protection (C30)
Wildlife Preservation/Protection (D30)
Film, Video (A31)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Today many beautiful wildlife films are being produced, and they all try to bring nature closer to their audience. Some of them even mention conservation issues. However, it is not easy to make the general public understand complex issues such as climate change. The result is that many people become overwhelmed with the problems, and they don't want to think about depressing topics that they feel incapable to change. There is an increasing need for the human population to do something about all sorts of conservation issues. Nature documentaries should show not only the problems, but also possible solutions to encourage people to act in a pro-nature way.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
The Indonesian Parrot Project documentary
In collaboration with the Indonesian Parrot Project we plan to make a conservation documentary about their very important work in Indonesia in the protection of several parrot species.
https://wildlifemessengers.org/ipp
The Macaw Project documentary
The Macaw Project - Biologists, Ecotourists and Local Communities for the Amazonian Rainforest (www.macawmovie.com), is a 26-minute documentary of macaw conservation research filmed in the Peruvian tropical rainforest. The documentary was made with the aim to direct public attention towards the problems that macaws and other creatures face in their natural habitat and the importance of scientific conservation research in this region. This film differs from previous nature documentaries because it is filmed mainly by the researchers themselves; something that is rarely seen on the screen. We explain the newest methods of conservation biology and present up-to-date findings in a comprehensible way in this spectacular movie.
The Macaw Project also seeks to provide an alternative solution for biodiversity conservation: an internationally applicable model that can help to protect highly biodiverse places in many different regions of the Earth. Our model incorporates scientific research, eco-tourism, and the collaboration of local communities to live in their ecosystem in a sustainable way.
We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the kindness of our many supporters that made this film a reality via a crowdfunding campaign: http://igg.me/at/macawmovie.
The Macaw Kingdom documentary
The Macaw Kingdom (https://wildlifemessengers.org/macaw-kingdom) is an award-winning documentary featuring the everyday work of scientists in the Tambopata region of Peru, and showing how they collect important scientific data to conserve this biodiversity hotspot. It was a winner in the section of International Film Review / Scientific documentaries at the International Nature Film Festival Gödöllő in 2018.
After years of preparation, zoologist George Olah finally got what he wanted. A special permission from the government of Peru. The 50+ page document gave him access to the Holy Grail of parrot researchers: the Candamo Basin, in the Peruvian Amazon. A place where wildlife exists without any human disturbance since the beginning of times. Surrounded by the foothills of the Andes, the Candamo Basin hosts one of the very few uninhabited tropical rainforest of the world. Not even native tribes had settled here and decades had passed since the last camera team dared to sail the hostile rapids of the Candamo river.
In February, 2016 the nine members of an international scientific expedition finally got onboard of an Amazonian motorized canoe. It took 4 days for them to reach the location. After setting up their base camp in the rainforest, researchers climbed giant trees, investigated nest hollows, captured and tagged young macaws and collected blood samples and feathers for genetic analysis. But doing serious scientific work in the Amazon is not an easy feat. Jaguars visit the camp, wasps attack the climbers and parasites hunt and bite every free piece of skin. Despite all the challenges the team returns to the lab with the invaluable samples that can help us understand the status of an isolated parrot population.
Where we work
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of film festivals participated
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of film festivals worldwide, where our documentaries were selected and screened.
Number of sector award nominations earned by the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of awards our documentaries won at film festivals worldwide.
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of overall donors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of stories successfully placed in the media
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of articles we have published in print or online media.
Total number of screenings held
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric shows how many times we screened our films and videos to the public in movie screenings, presentations, meetings, and TV broadcastings.
Number of casework interviews performed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of interviews we gave to news agencies, TV channels, or radios.
Number of Subscribers on YouTube
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The more people subscribe to our YouTube channel, the more people we can reach with our wildlife conservation focussed films and videos. This metric indicated the number of new subscribes per year.
Watch time (in hours) of our films/videos on YouTube
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The total number of hours our wildlife conservation focussed videos were watched on YouTube over a given year.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Conservation films should be made not only to entertain, but also to induce behaviour change. This is what our organisation, Wildlife Messengers, aims to do. The messages of our films are based on scientific results, supervised by academics and researchers active on the ground. Before starting a project, we get prepared about the knowledge and attitude of our audiences. So when we make a film, we tailor it based on research not only on the conservation issues themselves, but also on the audiences.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We collaborate with organizations, scientists, conservationists, and experts who are familiar with the topic. Scientific supervision should accompany every phase of the film production, from research of background information through the filming process to the postproduction in the studio.
We conduct thorough research before the filming phase, during the preproduction, about the conservation issue, the challenges, the audience to be addressed, the attitude and motivation of the target audience, and the desired behaviour change.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We are scientists, conservationists and filmmakers, with extended experience in the field of filmmaking, conservation and research in remote areas, such as in Peru or in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On our website you can find several of our film credentials as examples of how we try to make a difference.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
You can find our previous film credentials on our website, including The Macaw Kingdom, The Macaw Project, and Rhinos in the Freezer.
Our ongoing project is about parrot conservation in Indonesia, and community-based conservation in the DRC.
We constantly look for conservation organisations and issues that could use conservation films to achieve better results.
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsOperations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Treasurer
George Olah PhD
George is a scientist and conservation geneticist, mainly working on parrots and other birds. He acquired his Master of Science degree in Zoology, at the University of Veterinary Medicine in 2006 in Hungary. After his degree he participated in many field based research projects on parrots in Central and South America including Argentina, Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. He worked for the Tambopata Macaw Project in the Peruvian Amazon for several years, first as the leader of the research center and later as the project coordinator. He also worked in the eco-tourism industry in Peru as lodge manager for one of the largest Peruvian eco-tourist companies. When he realized that the human impacts on the habitat of parrot and macaw species were accelerating, he decided to undertake a PhD in conservation biology to enable a scientifically based evaluation of conservation management in the area. He graduated at the Australian National University in 2015, where subsequently he is engaged in research.
Vice President
Cintia Garai
Cintia is a scientist, mainly focusing on great apes in Africa, and wildlife filmmaker. She completed her Masters of Science in Zoology in 2006 at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hungary. She then worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo with bonobos, where she began her research on that species. Later she worked for a Hungarian wildlife filmmaking group, Filmjungle.eu Productions for 5 years, during which time decided that she wanted to make films for conservation purposes, especially in remote areas. She realized that she wanted additional scientific background in order to combine three elements, filmmaking – research – conservation, and so in 2015, she gained a PhD degree in Primatology, at the Kyoto University in Japan. Since graduation she has worked in DR Congo as a conservationist, and she continues filming and exploring the possibilities of using films in different ways to promote nature conservation.
There are no officers, directors or key employees recorded for this organization
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
Wildlife Messengers
Board of directorsas of 06/08/2023
Board of directors data
Robert Carrubba
Wildlife Messengers
George Olah
Wildlife Messengers
Cintia Garai
Wildlife Messengers
Robert Carrubba
Wildlife Messengers
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
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