YO U R I M PAC TE X P L O R I N G + P R O T E C T I N G O U R P L A N E T

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DEAR TRAVELER,

Often I’m asked—by journalists, colleagues, friends, and family—what it is that keeps me up at night. It’s an important question, really. One I take very seriously. The answer always comes back to the planet—the vast, wild parts of it and the future and hope of all its inhabitants, human and otherwise.

Which is why I am profoundly grateful for the likeminded travelers who choose to support the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Fund. Together, in 2016–17, we put $1.5 million toward meaningful work that is helping address challenges to the environment, opening doors for people of all ages to become stewards for the Earth, and moving countries to protect more square kilometers of ocean than ever before.

To those who shared in these outcomes—scientists, storytellers, explorers, travelers— thank you. The stories that follow reflect a passion and a capacity for “doing something,” which, in my view, is what the world needs more than anything.

All the best,

SVEN-OLOF LINDBLAD PRESIDENT AND CEO LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS

“ WHEN WE UNDERSTAND OUR WORLD WE ARE MORE LIKELY TO PROTECT IT, AND TRAVEL PROVIDES THE IDEAL OPPORTUNITY TO GAIN THAT UNDERSTANDING.”

GARY E. KNELL PRESIDENT AND CEO NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

S E E T H E W O R L D C H A N G E I T F O R T H E B E T T E R

16%EDUCATION

YO U R I M PAC TThanks to travelers like you, the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic (LEX-NG) Fund supports conservation, education, research, and community development initiatives worldwide. In 2016, $1.5 million from guest contributions went toward projects that are helping to protect the last wild places in the ocean and make a positive difference in the regions we explore.

66%CONSERVATION

5%COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT

13%RESEARCH

W E N E E D W I L D P L A C E S

SITKA CONSERVATION SOCIETY HELPED PROTECT

2MACRES OF TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST

CITIZEN SCIENTISTS HELPED SOUTHEAST ALASKA

CONSERVATION COUNCIL ADD OVER

302KTEMPERATURE DATA

POINTS TO A CLIMATE ASSESSMENT

SOUTHEAST ALASKA

Our grantees in Southeast Alaska are working with local communities to generate solutions for a healthier future. With your support, Sitka Conservation Society,

Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, and the Alaska Whale Foundation are conducting conservation-based research, protecting old-growth forests, and empowering people in the region to care for the environment. Working together, our grantees and the people of Southeast Alaska are preserving the wilderness and wildlife of Alaska for future generations.

Above, from left to right: Alaska Whale Foundation researchers record humpback whale vocalizations (NOAA Permit No. 14122-01); indigenous members of a Tlingit community monitor important local salmon streams.

33%67%

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Y our donation supports conservation projects across the Galápagos Islands and Marine Reserve. Highlights include the Charles Darwin Foundation’s study of penguins,

albatross, and flightless cormorants; Island Conservation’s efforts to reintroduce native species to Floreana Island, such as the Floreana mockingbird and giant tortoise; and the Galápagos National Park’s monitoring of local fisheries. With an eye to the future, your support for Tomás de Berlanga students on Santa Cruz Island is helping to educate future leaders of the Galápagos in a school with a unique, environmentally sensitive curriculum.

TOMÁS DE BERLANGA PROVIDED

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR

39STUDENTS—20% OF THE

STUDENT BODY

DARWIN ANIMAL DOCTORS TREATED A RECORD

3,175ANIMALS IN 2016, HELPING

TO PROTECT WILD AND NATIVE SPECIES

P R O T E C T I N G N A T U R E ’ S L A B O R A T O R Y

GALÁPAGOS

Above, from left to right: The Charles Darwin Foundation’s study of Galápagos penguins informs management decisions; students at Tomás de Berlanga School enjoy open-air classrooms; giant tortoises are emblematic of conservation efforts in the Galápagos Islands; a school of hammerhead sharks in the Galápagos Marine Reserve.

23% 22%55%

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PRESERVING

BIODIVERSITY

Following a National Geographic Pristine Seas expedition to the Galápagos, the government of Ecuador expanded protections in the Galápagos Marine Reserve, a richly biodiverse place with the world’s highest abundance of sharks. These protections are working—officials intercepted a foreign ship carrying illegally caught sharks in August 2017 and the crew now faces heavy fines and jail time.

“ ALL ANIMALS DESERVE A CHANCE TO SURVIVE, AND CHILDREN GROWING UP IN PRECIOUS ECOSYSTEMS DESERVE TO LEARN HOW TO PROTECT THEIR WORLD.”

TOD EMKO PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER DARWIN ANIMAL DOCTORS

Development is threatening Baja California’s coastal ecosystems and the wildlife that call the area home. With matching funds from the Mexican Fund for the

Conservation of Nature and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, your donation supports projects in sustainable tourism, responsible natural resource management, and marine conservation. You have helped sea turtles thrive, empowered an indigenous community to address climate change, and elevated an awareness campaign promoting safe interactions with gray whales.

GULF OF CALIFORNIA CONSERVATION FUND

SUPPORTED

9SEA TURTLE MONITORING

PROGRAMS

INDIGENOUS COMCAAC COMMUNITIES HELD

57FORUMS TO ADDRESS

CLIMATE CHANGE

S T R A T E G I E S F O R S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y

BAJA CALIFORNIA

Above, from left to right: Awareness of gray whales in the waters surrounding Baja California helps protect the species; local people, especially younger generations, play a critical role in raising awareness of the challenges faced by sea turtles.

90% 10%

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413STUDENTS ATTENDED

CLASSES WITH ORGANIZATION FOR

BASIC TRAINING

36STUDENTS ENROLLED

IN FORMAL HOSPITALITY PROGRAMS

E ducation is a powerful tool to combat poverty in rural Cambodia. With your support, Organization for Basic Training is offering free English, math, and traditional Khmer

music and dance classes to rural children in Kampong Cham Province. Your donation also supported the construction of a new training facility for the organization’s pre-hospitality program. Students are now better equipped to pursue higher education or secure future education and employment opportunities.

E D U C A T I O N E N R I C H E S L I V E S

CAMBODIA

Below, from left to right: Mr. Sophal Pot, director and founder of Organization for Basic Training (OBT) with a student; class offerings at OBT’s new facilities open the door to future opportunities for young men and women.

33%67%

255ARTISANS HONED

CRAFT PRODUCTION AND COMMERCIALIZATION

SKILLS

420TEENS FROM SEVEN

REGIONAL SCHOOLS BECAME INVOLVED WITH ARTISANAL

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Handcraft production is an important income source for indigenous people living near the Marañón, Ampiyacu, and Tahuayo Rivers and a way to preserve cultural heritage.

To empower artisans with skills needed for financial security, the Radio Educational Project on Handcraft and Marketing—overseen by Minga Peru, By Hand Consulting, and the LEX-NG Artisan Fund—created 25 training modules on running a craft-based business and handcraft design. The modules reached 120,000 listeners across 12 remote communities through Minga Peru’s radio program “Bienvenida Salud.”

P R E S E R V I N G C U LT U R E A N D E M P O W E R I N G A R T I S A N S

PERUVIAN AMAZON

Below, from left to right: Increased knowledge about craft-based business operations allows local women to better provide for their families; community promoter Emira Montes Zuta, recording an episode for the twice-weekly radio program “Bienvenida Salud.”

26%74%

A t the bottom of the world, travelers aboard National Geographic Explorer may witness research in action: scientists studying whales around the Antarctic

Peninsula. Using state-of-the-art drones to take aerial photographs of killer whale pods or acoustic hydrophones to record vocalizations of individual whales, these scientists seek to assess the health of whales in the Southern Ocean and understand their role as top predators in the ecosystem.

RESEARCHERS COLLECTED

9,288IDENTIFICATION PHOTOS

OF WHALES

81DRONE FLIGHTS

LAUNCHED FOR AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

S C I E N C E I N T H E S O U T H E R N O C E A N

ANTARCTICA

Above, from left to right: Aerial photographs of whales allow researchers to assess the body condition and health of each individual; Dr. Holly Fearnbach collects water droplet samples after flying a drone through the blow of a humpback whale (Research conducted under NMFS Permit No. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit ACA 2017-029).

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“ WHEN YOU HAVE AN EXPLORER’S MINDSET, YOU WILL BE COMPELLED, AT SOME POINT, TO STAND UP AND STEP OUT ON BEHALF OF THE EARTH.”

ANNE LEWIS GROSVENOR TEACHER FELLOW

EXPANDING EDUCATOR

HORIZONS

In 2016, the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow program sent 35 educators to the Arctic, Galápagos, and other remarkable locations around the world, enabling them to enrich their classrooms, schools, and communities with firsthand field experiences. Every participant returns home with skills to foster geo-literacy in their students.

IN 2016, PRISTINE SEAS HELPED PROTECT OVER

1.2MSQUARE KILOMETERS

OF OCEAN

SINCE 2006, THE GROSVENOR TEACHER

FELLOW PROGRAM HAS HOSTED

180PRE-K-12TH-GRADE

EDUCATORS ABOARD THE LEX-NG FLEET

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I N S P I R I N G A C T I O N T H R O U G H E X P L O R A T I O N

GLOBAL

Donations made to the LEX-NG Fund aboard National Geographic Explorer and National Geographic Orion facilitate the exploration and protection of the last wild

places in the ocean. With your support, National Geographic’s Pristine Seas project conducted expeditions to Niue, the Revillagigedo Islands, and Clipperton Atoll in 2016. To date, the Pristine Seas team has helped protect more than 5 million square kilometers of virtually untouched ocean, with the mission to protect 20 of the ocean’s wildest places by 2020.

Opposite, from left to right: Endemic Malapterus reticulatus in Chile; Grosvenor Teacher Fellows use photography to share their field experiences with students; vibrant benthic sea life encountered by the Pristine Seas team; Grosvenor Teacher Fellows in Antarctica with the Lindblad ship National Geographic Explorer.

87% 13%

Your generosity makes an important contribution to the responsible fishing movement in Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Thanks to you, MarViva continues to train artisanal

fishermen on fishing best practices, build traceability systems to track catches from line to plate, and increase demand for responsibly caught seafood from corporate buyers. MarViva’s work shows that fisheries management reduces strain on marine resources and benefits local people.

MARVIVA INSTALLED TRACEABILITY SYSTEMS AT

3LOCAL FISHING LANDING SITES

LOCAL FISHERMEN SOLD MORE THAN

60KKILOS OF RESPONSIBLY

CAUGHT SEAFOOD

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O C E A N T O T A B L E — R E S P O N S I B LY

CENTRAL AMERICA

Above, from left to right: Artisanal fishers in Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica, use responsible fishing methods to make a living; weakfish, an abundant fish in the region, caught responsibly on a hand-line.

100%

VOLUNTEERS WITH COLUMBIA LAND TRUST

PLANTED

82KNATIVE TREES AND SHRUBS

COLUMBIA LAND TRUST RESTORED

8MILES OF KLICKITAT

RIVER SHORELINE

Columbia Land Trust’s efforts—in collaboration with scientists, engineers, and community stakeholders— are restoring salmon habitats along the iconic Columbia

River and its major tributaries. Thanks to donors like you, a decade-long effort to remove eight miles of paved road and 170,000 tons of fill from a historic floodplain was completed, restoring salmon corridors and reconnecting segments of the river that had been cut off for more than 80 years.

S U P P O R T I N G R I V E R R E S T O R A T I O N

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Below, from left to right: Aerial view of Columbia River; salmon habitats are being restored through the work of Columbia Land Trust.

100%

SOUTHEAST ALASKA

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

GALÁPAGOS

PERUVIAN AMAZON

ANTARCTICA

CENTRAL AMERICA

BA JA CALIFORNIA

YO U R I M PAC T A R O U N D T H E WO R L D

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Columbia Land Trust

National Geographic Sea Lion National Geographic Sea Bird

BA JA CALIFORNIA

Gulf of California Conservation Fund RED de Turismo Sustentable

National Geographic Sea Lion National Geographic Sea Bird

SOUTHEAST ALASKA

Alaska Whale Foundation Sitka Conservation Society Southeast Alaska

Conservation Council

National Geographic Sea Lion National Geographic Sea Bird

33%

100%

90% 10%

CENTRAL AMERICA

MarViva

National Geographic Sea Lion

100%

GALÁPAGOS

Charles Darwin Foundation Darwin Animal Doctors Galápagos National Park Island Conservation Scalesia Foundation Small Grants Program Tomás de Berlanga School

National Geographic Endeavour National Geographic Endeavour II National Geographic Islander

55% 23% 22%

67%

n

n

n

n n n

n

n n n n n n

GROSVENOR TEACHER FELLOWS

CAMBODIA

PRISTINE SEAS

YO U R I M PAC T A R O U N D T H E WO R L D

Your donation makes a difference—100% of the $1.5 million donated by LEX-NG travelers in 2016 supported initiatives on the ground in the regions we explored together. This map shows active project locations and grantees in 2016–2017 and the allocation of grant dollars within each pillar of our fund.

CONSERVATION EDUCATION RESEARCH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

GLOBAL

Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program National Geographic Pristine Seas

National Geographic Explorer National Geographic Endeavour National Geographic Orion

87% 13%

ANTARCTICA

Killer Whale Research

National Geographic Explorer

PERUVIAN AMAZON

Minga Peru Radio Educational Project on Handcraft

and Marketing in the Peruvian Amazon

Delfin II

74% 26%

67% 33%

100%

CAMBODIA

Organization for Basic Training

Jahan

n n

n

n n

n

“ MORE PEOPLE THAN EVER ARE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN OCEAN CONSERVATION AND A HUGE BIT OF THAT IS DUE TO EXPEDITION TRAVELERS—THANK YOU.”

PAUL ROSE EXPEDITION LEADER, PRISTINE SEAS

L E X- N G T R AV E L E R S M A K E A D I F F E R E N C E

T H A N K YO UThank you for supporting the people and places that make our world worth exploring. You inspire us with your dedication to advancing conservation, education, research, and community development projects in the regions we explore together. To renew your support of the LEX-NG Fund, visit donate.ngs.org/LEXimpact.

L E X- N G T R AV E L E R S M A K E A D I F F E R E N C E

PHO

TO C

REDITS Front cover: Ralph Lee H

opkins. Inside cover and page 1, left to right: Kristin Hetterm

ann; Michael S. N

olan. Page 2, background: Michael S. N

olan. Page 2, clockwise from

top left: Enric Sala/National

Geographic; Aurora Elm

ore/National G

eographic; Alexandra Daley-C

lark; Holly Fearnbach/John D

urban, research conducted under NM

FS Permit N

o. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Perm

it ACA 2017-029.

Page 3, left to right: Steven Morello, research conducted under N

OAA Perm

it No. 14122-01; Bethany Sonsini G

oodrich, Sustainable Southeast Partnership/Sitka Conservation Society. Page 4/5, left to right: Joel Sartore;

Buró, Com

unicación Integral; Frans Lanting; Pelayo Salinas-de-León. Page 6, left to right: Ralph Lee Hopkins; RED

Turismo Sustentable y D

esarrollo Social, A.C. Page 7, left to right: Aurora Elm

ore/National G

eographic; Aurora Elm

ore/National G

eographic. Page 8, left to right: Luis Gonzalez; Alexandra D

aley-Clark. Page 9, left to right: H

olly Fearnbach/John Durban, research conducted under N

MFS Perm

it No. 19091 and Antarctic

Conservation Act Perm

it ACA 2017-029; Leigh H

ickmott, research conducted under N

MFS Perm

it No. 19091 and Antarctic C

onservation Act Permit AC

A 2017-029. Page 10/11, left to right: Enric Sala/National

Geographic; Rich Reid; Enric Sala/N

ational Geographic; Steven M

orello. Page 12: MarViva Foundation; Theda M

aria Briceño. Page 13, left to right: David G

n; Brian Cham

bers. Page 14, clockwise from

top left: Max Seigal;

Sarah Richards; Theda Maria Briceño; Alexandra D

aley-Clark; H

olly Fearnbach/John Durban, research conducted under Perm

it No. 14097-06 authorized by U

.S. National M

arine Fisheries Service; Tim Lam

an; James Forte.

Page 15, clockwise from

top left: Steven Morello; Aurora Elm

ore/National G

eographic; Roger Horrocks/N

ational Geographic. Page 15/16: Robert H

arding.TM

The Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Fund supports efforts to restore the health and productivity of the ocean at a global scale and to positively impact the natural and human communities in the regions where Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic travel together.

To give online and increase the positive impact we make together, visit donate.ngs.org/LEXimpact.

For more information about the LEX-NG Fund or the projects we support around the world, contact Amy Berquist (Lindblad Expeditions) and Dr. Aurora Elmore (National Geographic Society) at ocean@ngs.org.

© Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Fund, 2017

LEX-NG FUND BOARD MEMBERS

Dr. Jonathan Baillie Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President Science & Exploration National Geographic Society

Dr. Helen Fox Senior Director Our Changing Planet Grants National Geographic Society

Dr. John Francis Independent Consultant

Sven-Olof Lindblad CEO and President Lindblad Expeditions

Lorenzo Rosenzweig Director General Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza