The EXPOSED Wildlife Conservancy (EWC) was founded by John E. Marriott, an Associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers and owner/operator of Canadian Wildlife Photography Tours based in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, and Kim Odland, the owner of the Edmonton-based production company, KO Productions, in December 2019.
The EWC is a culmination of Marriott and Odland’s efforts to effect change in the wildlife conservation landscape, a process that began with a meeting over coffee in May 2014. It continued in January 2016 when Marriott and Odland, with the help of Lance Andersen, launched the web series EXPOSED with John E. Marriott as a way to raise awareness about wildlife conservation issues in Canada and beyond, using images, video and storytelling as a means to engage the audience.
The web series has been phenomenally successful: the videos have reached more than one million viewers, helped to shut down the trophy grizzly bear hunt in British Columbia and raised awareness about a host of other wildlife issues that we’re continuing to fight to this day.
The success of the web series made Marriott and Odland realize they needed to put in even more time and resources to keep the momentum going. There are so many stories and issues we want to tackle: more caribou coverage, more wolves, more bears, more habitat protection, and some spectacular and fascinating new projects on cougars and wolverines!
You can get be a part of the solution to conservation by getting involved.
In 2020, Marriott, Odland, and Andersen launched the non-profit EXPOSED Wildlife Conservancy to help us achieve our mission of conserving Canada's biodiversity long-term while continuing to give wildlife a voice.
Our vision is for the EXPOSED Wildlife Conservancy to become a recognized leader and expert in wildlife advocacy, policy, and education for apex predators in Western Canada. We envision Canada becoming a country that celebrates its apex predators—a nation that honours and appreciates bears, wolves, and cougars for their natural beauty and intrinsic value to our ecosystems. We envision a future where visitors travel from around the world to Canada for the unique opportunity to see these impressive predators in the wild and to learn how Canadians successfully coexist with them.
More broadly, we envision a Canada that entrusts its wildlife and biodiversity with a balanced approach including both Western Science and traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge, resulting in an overhauled wildlife management system that better represents modern public values. In other words, a Canada that lives in a harmonious relationship with nature, not an adversarial one.
Apex predators can be intimidating but through education and support, Canadians can better understand how to coexist and recreate side-by-side with these powerful and highly misunderstood animals. We will continue to tell their stories so the rest of the world can enjoy and see value in them as well.
As we do so, our guiding principles are:
- To seek science-based research and evidence to guide our projects and campaigns.
- To remain politically unbiased.
- To pursue legislation that upholds ethical and scientifically sound trapping and hunting practices.
- To conduct ourselves in a socially responsible and ethical manner.
- To be positive stewards of the environment.
- To pursue diversity and inclusivity in our team.
As we grow and realize our vision, our goal remains the same: to help protect our wildlife for generations to come.
We hope you will join us in this fight.
Kim Odland is a co-founder of the original EXPOSED with John E. Marriott web series and is the owner of KO Productions in Edmonton, Alberta. He is an established amateur cinematographer and photographer.
John E. Marriott is one of Canada’s premier professional wildlife and nature photographers and is an Associate Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers.
Colleen Gara is a lawyer, wildlife advocate, and nature photographer based in Calgary, Alberta. Focusing on Canadian wildlife, she is passionate about photographing animals in their natural surroundings, promoting science-based and ethical conservation efforts, and giving wildlife a voice through her photography.
Angie is a research assistant with the intention of creating the change she wishes to see for wildlife and our wild places.
