Our team

Damien Mander the
Modern Warrior

About the founder

Damien is an Iraq war veteran who served as a Naval clearance diver and special operations sniper for the Australian Defense Force. In 2009 while travelling through Africa, he was inspired by the work of rangers and the plight of wildlife. Liquidating his life savings, the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF) was established to be the last line of defence for nature. Over the past decade the IAPF has scaled to train and support rangers which now help protect over 4 million hectares of African wilderness.

In 2017 IAPF founded ‘Akashinga – Nature Protected by Women’, a program that has already grown to over 170 employees, becoming the only group of nature reserves in the world to be protected by women. The goal is to employ 1000 women by 2025, protecting a network of 20 nature reserves, all managed by the IAPF.

Damien is the winner of the 2019 Winsome Constance Kindness Gold Medal, a prestigious international recognition for services to animals and humanity. Past recipients include Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall. He was featured in the newly released James Cameron documentary The Game Changers, and is now releasing another documentary with James Cameron and National Geographic about his work with the women of Akashinga.