Sacha Dench

Biography

Sacha Dench, a distinguished Australian biologist, epitomizes a deep-seated commitment to wildlife conservation, notably focusing on migratory birds, a passion that led her to be appointed as the UN Ambassador for Migratory Species.

Her multifaceted career spans various domains, including conservation, biology, environmental artistry, storytelling, and even freediving, where she once held the title of Australian Freediving Champion and established the volunteer organization 'Ecodivers' in Australia. This organization aimed to protect and restore marine ecosystems, conducting activities such as seagrass bed restoration, plastic waste clean-ups, and surveys of marine life. 

Sacha's remarkable journey includes spearheading the "Flight of the Swans" expedition in 2016 under the banner of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). Flying alongside Bewick's swans on their migration route from Arctic Russia to the UK, this expedition sought to raise awareness about the challenges faced by migratory birds and the critical importance of conserving their habitats. 

Building on the success of "Flight of the Swans," Sacha established Conservation Without Borders (CWB), employing expeditions to document and spotlight the threats to migratory species and wetlands worldwide. Her efforts garnered support from influential figures like Sir David Attenborough and patrons Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dame Judi Dench. 

Throughout her career, Sacha has been a sought-after speaker, sharing her experiences and insights at international conferences and events, including a TedX talk. Her contributions extend to various roles, from conducting research on marine turtles in the Great Barrier Reef to collaborating with indigenous communities in South America on marine conservation projects. 

As head of communications at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the UK, Sacha participated in field expeditions worldwide, capturing photos and films to raise awareness and funds for wetland conservation. Notably, she embarked on a paramotor flight alongside Bewick's swans, documenting their migration and rallying support for wetland conservation efforts. 

In recent years, Sacha led expeditions tracking the migration of ospreys from Scotland to West Africa, shedding light on threats to marine and freshwater ecosystems. This journey has been chronicled in a 10-part radio series for the BBC, showcasing conservation efforts and inspiring action across diverse communities.

Questions and Answers

What personal experience has shaped or inspired your journey?

I grew up in a remote area of SE Australia, in a property on a river where droughts and floods were a dramatic part of life, and have become more and more frequent and extreme over the last 40 years. Growing up, that river, and nature in general, was my playground and an endless source of fascination and learning, and our wooden house was quite open to the elements, so you didn’t always know exactly where our house ended, and nature began.

A particular experience that empowered me was much later in about 2014.

A wetland recreation (or coastal realignment project) site that WWT was managing known as ‘Steart’, began to be heavily criticized by a politician in a nearby region, claiming it was a ‘waste of money’ just creating ‘duck parks’, but he knew none of the facts. Sadly, his comments were gaining a lot of attention. I knew from flying that understanding the importance of wetlands is much easier to see from above, where you can see their role in a landscape and the contrast to the surrounding landscapes.

Who is the influential figure who has inspired your actions, and what specifically about them has been motivating?

Growing up in the middle of some major environmental conflicts, I had friends whose families were often on opposing sides of big issues like logging old-growth forests versus conservation, and bottom trawling versus marine protected areas. I was very fond of all of them, even if I did not always agree, and I found it fascinating to try to understand how differently people saw issues, the arguments that different groups found convincing, and what it takes to change their minds, etc. The parents of my school friends were an inspiration and have given me an amazing toolkit for understanding people and resolving conflict, which I use daily on expeditions.

In your conservation efforts for wetlands, what key challenges did you face and how has this experience fuelled your dedication to making a positive impact?

Being asked to help scientists and conservationists raise awareness of issues for wetland birds – the Bewick’s Swan- was by far my biggest challenge. I spent months trying to figure out how you bring people together and get them excited about a complex story of disappearing wetlands and birds that fly a long way, across boundaries of language and culture, with many different threats. 

I realized that we needed a powerful story that would grab people’s attention, and allow everyone to feel part of it, and to choose to be part of the solution (even if traditionally they were seen as a threat). Even better, if we could tell that story from the point of view of the animals, we could open people’s hearts and minds, and get them wanting to be part of the solutions, and offering to help. The fact that this worked so well with my ‘flight of the Swans’ expedition, set me on a course to do more.