Explorer and conservationist Levison Wood and Dame Judi Dench are among those supporting a mammoth charity exhibition in Harrogate in October.
The annual Sketch for Survival exhibition of wildlife art is the brainchild of the Explorers Against Extinction charity. It's part of a wider campaign to raise awareness about species extinction and promotes the conservation of rare and endangered species and their environments. The unique art exhibition will premiere at the Wildlife & Safari Travel Show in Harrogate, 12-13 October.
Animal species are already becoming extinct at a faster rate than ever before, with all five species of rhino endangered and just 4,000 tigers remaining, down from 40,000 a century ago.
These sobering statistics are just some of the reasons why the celebrities have joined forces. All have donated a 26-minute sketch or other original artwork of an endangered species, to highlight the fact that an elephant is poached for its tusks in the wild every 26 minutes.
In 2018 artists from more than 30 countries participated, including Nick Park, Dames Judi Dench and Helen Mirren, Mary Berry, Frederick Forsyth, Stephen Fry and Sophie Thompson and explorers Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Levison Wood.
The exhibition was displayed at prestigious venues in London and New York before being sold online for nearly £60,000, funding initiatives to safeguard iconic species and important frontline conservation projects ranging from anti-poaching initiatives to wildlife translocations.
The charity wants to connect with the explorer within us all at what is undoubtedly a critical time for wildlife and the environment. Explorer and adventurer Levison Wood is a patron of Explorers Against Extinction and is supporting Sketch for Survival with some of his own work. He says: 'As a passionate globetrotter and an advocate of travel, I feel it my duty to ensure that we continue to explore the world in a sustainable way. I am delighted to support Explorers against Extinction in their efforts to promote the conservation and protection of rare and endangered species and their environments.
'Explorers against Extinction combines all my passions for travel, conservation, art and photography. I've submitted two sketches this year to the Sketch for Survival exhibition - both of elephants, along with a photograph for the parallel photography exhibition - based on an encounter I had recently on a trip to Botswana.' u
