Beyond my core professional activities, my work and interests encompass wildlife conservation, photography, film, writing, and the landscapes of the Sahel and Sahara. Overland expeditions, river journeys, and bush flying provide opportunities to document these environments, their ecology, and the communities that inhabit them.
A background in environmental activism informs my continued commitment to species conservation. This includes supporting and following wildlife crime investigations, with contributions to work undertaken in collaboration with Karl Ammann. Field observation, documentation, and less publicly visible contributions form part of this engagement with the pressures affecting wildlife and its habitats.
Photography and documentary filmmaking complement my fieldwork, using both digital cameras and analog formats such as Super 8. Even when using digital cameras, I still approach them much as I would an analog camera. I come from a time when there was no “fixing it later”—if the aperture, shutter speed, light, or framing were wrong, the photograph was wrong. The image had to be made in the moment, not reconstructed afterward. That mindset still shapes how I work today. For me, the finished image should remain just that: a document of a specific moment, with all its imperfections and authenticity.
Soundtrack experimentation draws on the musical language of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly the atmosphere of documentary and independent cinema. This includes exploring the distinctive sounds of period synthesizers such as the Roland SH-2000.
My keen interest in visual art spans Renaissance painting, prehistoric rock art, and selected contemporary work. My own enthusiasm for drawing and sketching began in childhood and was rekindled during my biology studies through botanical illustration. It later extended to sketches of Rome, the surrounding Italian countryside, and the landscapes of the Sahel.
Archaeological interests focus on the Etruscans, neighbouring civilizations before and during early antiquity, and Africa’s archaeological heritage. These perspectives complement ecological field observation by considering the material traces, cultural traditions, and human histories of the landscapes explored.
Writing and publishing projects include a practical guide to tropical farming, memoirs of my time in war-torn Lebanon, and travel guides grounded in field experience. Political analysis provides a further area of work, particularly at the intersection of geography, environmental pressures, and social conditions. These projects aim to communicate practical knowledge, document experience, and connect observations with their wider historical and human context.
Participation in geographical societies and scientific associations supports international exchange and collaboration in observation, research, and exploration. Independent research is sustained through my professional activities and these networks, allowing long-term questions to be pursued beyond immediate commercial objectives.
Aikido provides a further framework for awareness, restraint, and responding to conflict without unnecessary force. This has also informed educational activities, including a school-based Aikido course I led in The Gambia, with an emphasis on confidence, mutual respect, and thoughtful conflict resolution.
tropricalfarmingsolutions.com
(Technical Agricultural Bureau in Gambia)
gambiawildlifeculturaltours.com
(affiliated with Gambia Geographic Explorers Club)
gambiaflightsafaris.com
(affiliated with Gambia Wildlife & Cultural Tours)
(under construction)
kbsahel.africa – Solutions Agri-Tech “Made in Italy” en Sénégal
(under construction)
Technik-Plus Sämaschinen e.U.
(tropicalized agricultural implements and seeders from Austria)