Paul Gardiner is a renowned South African conservationist and avid long-distance runner. He has launched a new six-part documentary series, “Natural Born Runners,” exclusively on YouTube. The series is a project that blends his two passions, running and conservation, and aims to inspire a younger generation to connect with and protect the planet. Locations include the Eastern Cape, where his family has been involved in rewilding projects, Bahrain, Scotland and the USA. When BizNews caught up with him, Gardiner was in Antarctica, bracing -20°C, after completing a 21 km race with his brother, Murray. He discussed the challenges of filming and running in Antarctica due to the harsh terrain and extreme cold, highlighting global warming and avian flu as significant environmental concerns in the region. “If all the ice in Antarctica melts, sea levels will rise by 60 metres,” he told BizNews. Paul also recounted his experience visiting a recently discovered penguin colony that shows no fear of humans. The video material, shot by his filmmaker friend, Christian Antoine, is a must-see. – Linda van Tilburg
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Highlights from the interview
In this interview, South African conservationist and long-distance runner Paul Gardiner shares insights into his new documentary series, Natural Born Runners, which focuses on the intersection of running, conservation, and eco-tourism. Available on YouTube, the series follows Gardiner and his filmmaker friend, Christian Antoine, as they run through diverse landscapes worldwide, highlighting conservation efforts and rewilding projects.
Gardiner’s passion for conservation stems from his childhood, influenced by his father’s pioneering work in rewilding the Eastern Cape of South Africa. His family’s conservation-driven ethos has led Gardiner to travel globally, seeking eco-lodge opportunities and supporting rewilding initiatives. The series explores various conservation stories, such as the rewilding efforts in Bahrain, the Highlands of Scotland, and the restoration of bison populations in the USA.
Gardiner is currently filming in Antarctica, where he is part of a small group visiting a rare penguin colony. He discusses the unique challenges of filming in such a harsh environment, including navigating icy terrain and the logistical difficulties of carrying film equipment. Gardiner also highlights the severe environmental issues facing Antarctica, particularly the rapid melting of ice sheets due to global warming and the threat of avian flu to local wildlife.
Gardiner’s experience in Antarctica offers a powerful reminder of the importance of protecting such fragile ecosystems. He emphasises the need for the younger generation to engage with conservation efforts, particularly through platforms like YouTube, to ensure a sustainable future for the planet.
Edited transcript of the interview
Linda van Tilburg (00:00:608)
We have an exciting interview and visual story lined up on BizNews, coming to you from icy Antarctica. Paul Gardiner is a renowned South African conservationist and avid long-distance runner. Paul has launched his new documentary series, *Natural Born Runners*, which will be available exclusively on YouTube. It is a six-part series that showcases his extensive experience in running, rewilding, and eco-tourism, focusing on the theme: Peace with Nature. We attempted to speak to Paul while he was in Antarctica, but even Elon Musk’s satellites could not hold the connection. Instead, I sent him questions, and boy, did he go the extra mile. He sent us stunning footage shot by his producer and cameraman, Christian Antoine, of Antarctica, including a rare penguin colony that he visited. He was part of only the second group ever to witness this colony of 1,000 penguins, discovered via satellite. I began by asking Paul about his exact location in Antarctica.
Paul Gardiner (00:02)
Linda, thanks so much for having me today on BizNews. It’s actually 11 o’clock in the evening here in Antarctica, and to all your listeners, thanks for tuning in. To Alec and to Clive and the rest of the team there, I’m very grateful to be talking to you from Antarctica. It is freaking freezing. So, I reckon it must be about minus 20°C. We’re actually going to be leaving pretty soon on our aircraft back to Cape Town. It’s a six-hour flight from here.
Where we are now is at a place called Ultimate Antarctic Expeditions. It’s a wonderful little camp, and this has been our lodge for the last couple of nights here. It’s been remarkable. But I’m actually going to move inside because it is so cold out here, and we’ll do the rest of the conversation there. So if you don’t mind… come and have a look at the lodge.
This is the manager here. Here is an example of one of the bedrooms here at Ultima. It’s really, really cool. Considering we’re in the depths of Antarctica, it’s very plush and very comfortable.
We took part in a race yesterday. There’s an ultra-marathon that took place here with a company that operates extreme marathons worldwide. My brother Murray and I took part in that yesterday. We cheated; we did 21 km, but some fellas did 100 miles. They broke the record for the 100 miles yesterday in Antarctica. So that was pretty special.
There’s so much to do. We’ve done the penguins. We’ve explored an ice cave down here. There are numerous things to do. If you think about Antarctica, you kind of think flat ice. Believe it or not, it is absolutely stunning. There’s so much more to it than what you expect.
Linda van Tilburg (03:18)
Paul, you’ve been running and highlighting nature conservation. Where did this idea come from?
Paul Gardiner (03:22)
My two passions are running and conservation. I grew up as a young kid loving my running. I was inspired by my great-grandfather, who won the Oxford and Cambridge mile back in 1902. My dad was a pioneer of rewilding, and in the Eastern Cape province, most of the wildlife was wiped out over a period of 200 years. Very little was left, and he started to read up about all these magnificent animals that traversed the Eastern Cape all those years ago. And the penny dropped; he started to rewild and bring all these beautiful animals back. And so, as young teenagers, my brother, my sister, and I grew up experiencing this epic journey of bringing all these amazing creatures back to the Eastern Cape.
So, I guess that sparked in all of us a real passion for conservation. We’re a very conservation-driven family today, whether in ecotourism, rewilding, or all these magnificent things that happen worldwide; that’s part of our DNA today. Now, I get to look around the world for eco-lodge opportunities for our hotel group, Mantis, and our other business, Terra Nova. We actually design lodges and create game reserves, not just in Africa but in all parts of the world.
So, while scouting, I drag my filmmaker friend and cameraman Christian Antoine along with me. Because we are looking for all these places, I would like to go on foot. So, I always bring my running shoes with me, and we get a real feel for the land, and Christian tags along with me. He captures every moment. On our runs, we meet fascinating people involved in conservation and rewilding.
We’ve turned it into a series called Natural Born Runners, which we launched last week. The first episode follows us on a journey about 110 kilometres through the Eastern Cape, unearthing the story of my dad’s rewilding legacy. We’ve also gone to Bahrain. We’re busy with the Bahraini government and the royal family. They’re developing a magnificent hotel on an island off the coast of Bahrain, and we go and tell that story because it’s not just about the hotel.
The wildlife in that part of Bahrain is magnificent. There’s one of the biggest herds of dugongs in the world. There’s the biggest flock of cormorant birds in the world, 300,000 of them. So, they don’t want you to just lie on the beach there. They want you to go and do marine safaris, helping them rewild the island, and they will bring back a lot of the indigenous Middle Eastern wildlife to that resort, too. The island is called Hawar, and so we tell that story.
Then we go to the Highlands of Scotland. There’s a fellow there called Paul Lister, our great friend. He was inspired by what my father did in the Eastern Cape all those years ago, and his vision for the Highlands is to bring back the bears and the wolves, ultimately. It’s a long journey. He’s been on it for 20 years. He hasn’t got it right yet, but he’s done a lot of other good stuff in the Highlands. He’s planted a million trees, for instance.
We’ve done the USA. There are a couple of stories we want to tell there. One, in particular, is the story of the bison, the American buffalo. There were 50 million of them in the early days, and they wiped that whole population out down to around 25. They’re starting to rebuild that. Ted Turner from CNN and his family are involved, and there are many others doing it and buying out vast tracts of land.
Paul Gardiner (06:54.584)
They bring all the animals back and the buffalo back, so we’re going to go and tell that story, and I’m really looking forward to doing that. There’s a long list of other things we want to do. We’re hosting it on YouTube. Many people ask me why YouTube and we believe that the future of conservation is in the hands of the youth, and if they don’t embrace that now, this world is in trouble. I mean, we as a generation can be blamed for messing it up in previous generations, but the youth have got a real shot at fixing this.
Through my experience and all the people doing great things there, we want to get the youth to watch. And YouTube’s probably the greatest platform for them to engage.
So, Linda, I’ve actually been very fortunate because I’ve been to Antarctica three times. This is my third. And every time is incredibly special. On this occasion, we’ve been invited to a company that started to venture into the ecotourism space.
They are called Ultima Antarctic Expeditions, and they are essentially a logistics company. So, they support several of the scientific research stations on the continent. The Indians are here, the Russians are right here, South Africa is not far away. Then at the same time, this opportunity came up, and they have this facility here. The airport is theirs too, and they are now attracting tourists here.
Not in a big way; they’ve only got eight rooms. So, it’s very small and intimate, and they’ve got the most amazing guides and manager Jan, an incredible chef called Jess, and they just put on these most exciting and incredible expeditions for you.
Linda van Tilburg (08:33)
What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of filming in Antarctica?
Paul Gardiner (08:35)
The challenges of filming and running in Antarctica are endless. The terrain is obviously very harsh. I can go running out here on the snow, and that’s fine, but as you hit that blue ice—because there’s a lot of glaciers around you, and when you’re running on glaciers, generally they’re covered in a thin layer of snow, and that’s fine; you get a grip—but if you hit the ice, you’ll fall on your butt very quickly. Then I’ve got poor Christian carrying probably 10 kilograms of film equipment with him and a huge tripod and all of that that he’s got to lug around with him, but you’ve just got to be very careful underfoot, so it’s not for the faint-hearted.
Linda van Tilburg (09:13.292)
What specific conservation issues are you highlighting through your adventures in Antarctica?
Paul Gardiner (09:19)
Linda, there are lots of conservation challenges here. It’s funny enough; it relates to the world because if the world’s buggering up, it comes back here because you’ve got global warming; ice sheets are melting at a huge, huge rate. I don’t know the exact figure, but you’d be shocked to know the rapid rate of ice melting in Antarctica. You hear it all the time, but it’s very serious. If all the ice in Antarctica melts, the sea levels will rise by 60 meters, to give you an idea. Then you’ve got the issues with avian flu. So, when we went to the penguins, we had to dip our feet into a special liquid to ensure that we were not transmitting that disease to that particular colony of penguins.
It doesn’t really affect the penguins, but it does affect the seals. When the penguins go into the water, they carry it, but then the seals get nailed by it. So it’s got lots of little issues.
At the lodge, what comes into Antarctica from anybody who arrives here as a guest or a scientist has to go back. So, what comes here goes back out, and they’re very particular about that. There are lots and lots of rules here. It’s very regulated.
So, they protect the hell out of this wilderness, which is really good.
Linda van Tilburg (10:43)
All the video footage you shared with us is incredible. What was the most special moment for you?
Paul Gardiner (10:49)
For me, the most precious thing I experienced here was growing up in wildlife; wildlife tends to run away from man. Here it comes to you. The animals have no fear of humans here, and that’s how nature should be. The number of penguins that have come right up to us because they’re just inquisitive. You land, and suddenly, three kilometres away, these little guys start venturing towards you just because they’re inquisitive. And I think that’s beautiful. That’s a beautiful little piece of Antarctica, and I urge those who can to come and see it because if you come and see, you’re going to care, and caring is what this continent needs.
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