Wakatobi; Conservation. In Depth by Wade Hughes
2021 Underwater Photography Book of the Year
A detailed exploration and illustration of the concept of business-based conservation, or, in other words, economically sustainable conservation.
“Remote and idyllic for overseas visitors, the islands off the coast of Sulawesi offer limited employment and business opportunities for local communities. But collaboration between 18 of those local communities and Wakatobi Resort has led to the sustained rehabilitation and conservation of the coral reefs around the islands. So successful has this collaboration been that it gave rise to the creation by the Indonesian government of Wakatobi National Park. As a consequence, there are more economic choices emerging, and the world has been presented with a viable model for the long-term sustainable management of globally important coral reefs. But the coronavirus pandemic, by curtailing travel, is currently robbing the national park of the steady flow of foreign visitors and the revenues they bring. With the mounting economic pressures associated with housing, clothing, feeding, and educating their families, local communities are facing increasingly difficult times. Inevitably, this has the potential to result in increased exploitative pressure on their available natural resources—particularly the coral reefs. Although, on one hand, this can be seen as yet another local issue, forced on the area by COVID-19, it is far more than that. A new book, Wakatobi: Conservation. In Depth, written, designed, and illustrated by Wade and Robyn Hughes during nine visits to Wakatobi so far, vividly reveals what’s at stake.” DIVE PHOTO GUIDE
“The judges described this 200-page publication as ‘A superb photographic journey through Indonesia’s Wakatobi National Park. Diving here brings more than just short-term enjoyment for visitors. It makes a significant contribution to the well-being of local communities and helps ensure the long-term sustainable management of the globally important coral reefs within the Park’s boundaries. The book reveals the vision of the local communities and illustrates the success of their approach to economically sustainable conservation”. SCUBA DIVER MAGAZINE
ANZEC Member - Wade Hughes
Wade was elected to the Explorers Club as a Member in New York in 2004, and reclassified as a Fellow in 2022. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
He has mounted two Explorers Club Flag Expeditions to the Azores #85 in 2007, #204 in 2015 as part of Robyn’s and his 15 year commitment photograph whales above surface and below. He has twice been invited to present public lectures at Club HQ in New York and is a participating mentor in the Club’s mentoring program.
Wade spent thirty-three years gaining practical, managerial and leadership experience in international bauxite mining, refining, smelting, and manufacturing industry. Based initially within Australia, but, from the mid 1990s, internationally in locations such as the U.S, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Jamaica, Trinidad, Brazil, Suriname, Guinea, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia. He was frequently engaged in close collaboration with local, regional, and national governments and local communities to develop strategies for delivering sound economic, social, and environmental outcomes from resource development. Consequently, he worked extensively with scientific and technical professionals in translation of their work and findings for broad public consideration. He was based in the U.S from 2000 to 2008, and in the Middle East from 2008 till he retired from corporate life in December 2015, and returned home to Perth.
He is now able to devote more of his time to conservation writing and photography with the principal aim of contributing art in support of science. Wade’s main topics of interest are whales, and economically sustainable conservation. He is a regular contributor to online magazines and his images feature in books and presentations by authors such as Richard Ellis, Phillip Rothenberg, Wade Doak, and Dr Hal Whithead.
He has consistently been an Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year finalist and earned the 2016 award for the year’s best animal portrait. In 2017 Britain’s Natural History Museum selected his The look of a whale image in the year’s Best 100 photographs for the Museum’s exclusive and acclaimed international touring exhibition. That same image was this year selected by Phaidon Publishing as one of the 300 curated images in the recently released landmark book Ocean.
Wade and Robyn’s fine-art images hang in exclusive collections in the U.S, Australia, Europe, and the UK.
