Supporting the Baikakea community in the protection of their ancestral land, the Lamo Auru Caldera, from logging.
This project remains open for donation, please see below for information on costings and the development of this project following this recent expedition.
"After a lifetime of climbing trees to discover new species and exploring forests around the world, I have seen first hand the destruction that can occur if land isn’t protected.
Conservation is a painstakingly slow process. Time that humanity doesn’t have. Old growth forest especially is unique, and irreplaceable.
After spending time with the community in Baikakea, I have witnessed their fierce desire to protect their lands from logging. Knowing what I know now, I have decided to join their fight.
Having spoken to scientists who have knowledge of this forest I have discovered that this could be one of the most biodiverse areas of forest on our planet."
My follow up expedition from February 17th to March 16th 2026 was partly funded by this crowdfunding campaign.
I located the logging roads that I had seen on satellite imagery and I showed the destruction to the Baikakea community, who's history is entwined with this land.
I spent a week in the village documenting the community emergency meetings that were held with everyone, including the village elders, and I helped them compose and send letters to relevant government officials. I also produced a report on the extent of the logging and how it impacts the Baikakea community.
It was painful and brutal witnessing the dawn of realisation that their forest was being destroyed, but it was also powerful seeing the action that it has inspired.
The Baikakea community has started the Lamo Auru Community Conservation Association (LACCA). This organisation is supporting their own ranger programme where three rangers spend three days at a time in the caldera to remove the felling marks on all the trees (we found a lot of paint and trail markers in the forest) and engage in peaceful protest with the loggers that they meet.
The LACCA now have a bank account for this community organisation that is controlled by three members of the village.
Now I have returned to the UK I am refocussing efforts for this project following the new information. We are working toward providing legal support for the village, producing a film to expose the illegal logging and launching another expedition to highlight the biological significance of the Lamo Auru Caldera. We think we can get this place protected, with international help and support.
We have assembled a team here in the UK, and we are working toward gaining funding and support for this project. Time is of the essence and every donation helps.
After spending a week with the community, I walked across to the other side of the island, through the Nakanai mountains. I was joined by Patrick Temi, the Chief of the Lamo Auru Caldera, Joshua Kubaki, Lydia Gaa and Dorian Ubi.
We spent 8 days crossing a stretch of forest that no outsider had ever set foot in. Patrick shared his warning of logging companies to the remote communities that we passed and we made lots of friends. It was a tough walk but a significant and empowering experience for me and this indigenous team.
Upon reaching the other side I delivered a 5 day Canopy Access Training course to the Youth Conservation Group working with the WWF, and I donated 4 sets of Harnesses and associated PPE including throwlines and a bigshot to enable them to start working in the canopy.
This will help the ongoing biodiversity research and ultimately the efforts to get the Nakanai forests recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site. Lydia and Dorian also joined a workshop about women in conservation. We met and spoke with many conservationists at length and we gained valuable knowledge about how to move forward with protecting the Caldera.
We have a clear path ahead of us, we can see that it is possible to support the Baikakea community in the fight to protect this unique and special forest and we are determined to do so.
This expedition cost me £ 12557.07 in total. I am now reaching out to private funders and the general public for support so that we can start growing this movement.
I donated £400 of my personal money toward the ranger programme, to help them get things started and buy us some time whilst we mobilise. We hope to start sending more donations as this project develops.
We have so few of these wild places left. The West needs to pay for the protection of these places. We need to do everything we can to help communities who are still entwined with old forests, to look after them and protect them. This is our home and this is my effort to use my skills and experience to do something good for the world. To do something now.
Feel free to check out my instagram page @waldo_etherington to follow my adventures and stay up to date with this project.
My last film, Lamo Auru - Old Forests, New lines is a free tree climbing and conservation film about the trip to this area that changed everything for me. It will be available on an online platform soon.
This project successfully funded on 15th February 2026