Peter Knights

Peter Knights "is a graduate of the London School of Economics with a B. Sc. in Economics. He was formerly a program director and undercover investigator working on illegal trade in endangered species for the Global Survival Network and a senior investigator for the Environmental Investigation Agency. He specialized in conducting on-site investigations globally and campaigning against the wild bird trade for pets and consumption of endangered species in traditional Chinese medicine, such as bear gallbladder, rhino horn and tiger bone. In 1996 working across Asia he created the Active Conservation Awareness Program, the first international program aimed at reducing demand for endangered species products. The program used sophisticated advertising techniques, donated airtime and celebrity spokespeople with the message "when the buying stops, the killing can, too." He received an Associate Laureate of the Rolex Award for Enterprise for this work. The program now reaches up to 1 billion people a week with over 80 celebrity ambassadors, like Jackie Chan and Yao Ming and surveys indicate persuaded 8-30% of shark fin consumers to stop eating with a further 40% saying they were eating less. The program is currently focused on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and features gold medal winners.

"Peter served as Executive Director of WildAid and Program Director to the Barbara Delano Foundation. He created the Shark Conservation and Galapagos Forever Programs."