Popular television host, author and biologist Jeff Corwin has traversed the globe to bring stories about endangered species and ecosystems. For nearly 20 years, the American has produced and hosted numerous popular television series on Disney Channel, Discovery Channel, among others.
While the globe-trotter visits many exotic countries for work, he is always happy to fit Thailand into his busy itinerary. In the last two decades, the 47-year-old has visited the Kingdom regularly to cover everything from conservation issues to exotic delicacies.
Earlier this month, he arrived to shoot four of the 26 episodes for his Ocean Mysteries With Jeff Corwin series which will be on air in Thailand on the ABC Network in October. The Emmy-winning television host is here on the invitation of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, whom he said recognised the focus of his shows is more positive than negative.
"I like to challenge myself when it comes to conservation,'' said Corwin. "I try to look at the glass as half full. Thailand is so diverse and so rich in nature. It has so many vibrant, urgent and palpable stories at every level that it is always a great place to come.
"Ocean Mysteries has a big adult family audience, so our stories have to be good to get the ratings. We are working to find stories in Thailand that may be unfamiliar to an American audience. Hopefully, it might tickle their curiosity so they will come to Thailand. At the same time, we hope to fulfil our mission to provide our audience with a journey that has adventure and discovery but at the same time germinates a sense of environmental stewardship.''
Corwin said the biggest change he has seen in Thailand is in the black market wildlife trade. Not so long ago, people could walk down a remote street and purchase an exotic animal for its supposed medicinal value, but today efforts to curb this practice have begun to take effect.
"I think Thailand has made progress, which was started by NGOs, to educate communities on the value of safeguarding their natural resources," he said. "You can have all the laws in the world, but it is nothing like having the locals realise that it is up to them to be good stewards of their wildlife resources.
"In Thailand, you see a genuine change in local opinion on wildlife. People in communities where these resources originate are today actively playing a role in looking after their natural treasures,'' said Corwin, who has served as an environment and science correspondent for a string of cable news channels.
"We are a very commercial culture, people don't realise that there is a ripple effect from everything we do. We are now reaping the painful consequences of the way we have treated our planet."
Corwin said extinction rates are faster than anything we have seen in the past.
"Research tells us that we lose a species every half an hour, and this does not come as a surprise, because we are facing climate change, habitat loss, species exploitation, environmental degradation, pollution and human population growth," he said.
While a lot still remains to be accomplished, Corwin said there have been success stories in bucking these trends. The restoration of the bald eagle from the brink of extinction in the US is one such example. Today there are 20,000 breeding pairs while a couple of decades ago there were just 400. As for Thailand, Corwin said there has been a restoration of sea turtle numbers.
People often ask Corwin what they can do to make a difference. He believes it is really all about how one chooses to live. For him, it is about how he raises his family and the resources he provides for them. In his own little way he educates his children about how to maintain balance in their lives. Corwin teaches his two girls about recycling, farming and even raising poultry.
"A few quality eggs are better than a dozen,'' he said. "I often take them fishing. I teach them about the need to not overfish. Even though my kids are still young they understand what a carbon footprint is. So I would like to encourage adults to set a good example for the next generation. It is only through this that we can carry out tangible work towards restoring our ailing natural resources."
Plastic waste is among the biggest problems facing conservationists. Corwin once saw a rather pathetic sight while filming albatrosses in their Hawaiian natural habitat with a group of scientists.
"The baby albatrosses needed palpating because they had been fed plastic. When I closely examined their nests, I was shocked to see they were made from plastic originating not just from the US but also other parts of the world," Corwin said.
