Holly Budge has climbed Everest, raised over £400,000 for charities and describes herself as a “a badass adventurer with a couple of world records under her belt, including being the first woman to skydive Everest and race 1000 km across Mongolia on semi-wild horses.” She is also unassuming.
She founded How Many Elephants to raise money for the conservation of elephants and to challenge the ivory trade. Their first exhibition launched in Brighton in 2018, it visualised the annual poaching rate of 35,000 elephants. It made a big impact when How Many Elephants brought the art installation to WTM London in 2019. This year on June 23rd, How Many Elephants founder Holly Budge and Margot Dempsey have launched World Female Ranger Day.
Holly was studying for a Masters in Sustainable Design when she started to work with vegetable ivory. Researching the similarities with elephant ivory she realised the enormity of the African Elephant crisis, horrified by the statistics she wanted to find a powerful way to raise awareness. She did, through design, art installations and exhibitions. Take a look in the How Many Elephants to shop with purpose, every sale champions and supports female wildlife rangers working on the front line of wildlife conservation. There is stationery, handmade Ellies, “Herds of Hope” art works, gift cards and bags, and cards.
I interviewed Holly and Margot about World Female Ranger Day designed every year to shine a light on female wildlife rangers in Africa. Holly has patrolled with the Akashinga “the brave ones” in Zimbabwe and the Black Mambas in South Africa.
World Female Ranger Day is about recognising the value of their work and raising money to support them. Will you take the challenge? Choose Your 7 Day Ranger Challenge or shop with purpose. ‘The Elephant in The Room’ is a new talk series, delivering hard facts directly from the front line in Africa, from ecotourism companies and conservation initiatives to a global audience. 100% of the proceeds go to support frontline rangers.
