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Holly Budge: From Extreme Adventure to Protecting Elephants and Empowering Women Rangers

  • 5 hours ago
  • 4 min read

Renata Chlumska - Adventure athlete who became the first Swedish and Czech woman to climb Mount Everest and in 2005 did a circumnavigate of the lower 48 States of the United States by her own power.

Holly Budge is a global keynote speaker on risk, innovation, and human potential, operating at the intersection of conservation, science, and bold ideas. As an Everest summiteer and the first woman to skydive Everest, she now focuses less on surviving extremes and more on solving the complex conservation challenges shaping our future.


As founder of international NGO How Many Elephants and World Female Ranger Week, Holly explores how nature, technology, and innovation can work together to design smarter systems, from using bees as bio-engineers to reduce human-elephant conflict in Africa, to empowering women as front-line wildlife rangers. Her work has reached over 500 million people globally, been featured in Forbes, and praised by Sir David Attenborough.


In this episode, Holly shares powerful insights from her journey between extreme adventure and global conservation work, including how her definition of risk and purpose has evolved over time.


We dive into the real-world impact of wildlife conservation projects, from elephant corridors and bee-based deterrents to the rise of female ranger teams protecting some of the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems.


Listen to this episode to hear how adventure can become a force for global change, why women are reshaping the future of conservation, and what it takes to turn bold ideas into real-world impact at scale.



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Show notes


  • Who is Holly

  • Being an adventurer and passionate conservationist 

  • Founder of How Many Elephants, Wildlife Positive Travel and World Female Ranger Week

  • First speaking to Holly March 26th 2019 on the Tough Girl Podcast  

  • Recap on what was discussed on that episode 

  • Deciding to move to New Zealand in 2019

  • Training for the Coast to Coast Race 

  • Learning how to kayak especially for this race 

  • Getting over her fear of fast moving water

  • Doing a training course and getting to a Grade 2 whitewater certification

  • Doing the challenge solo and being supported by her mum at the checkpoints

  • Working on her charity - How Many Elephants 

  • How have things changed for the elephants over the years 

  • How poaching numbers have come down 

  • Human elephant conflict and how it has increased over the years

  • Partnering with an NGO in Tanzania 

  • Elephants being scared off bees and creating elephant corridors 

  • Dr Lucy King 

  • Why it works differently in Asia 

  • How her definition of adventure has changed over the years

  • Heading out with armed rangers

  • Creating world female ranger week in 2021 and how it’s gotten bigger and bigger every year

  • Reaching over 500 million people!!

  • The importance of women in these roles

  • Why it matters that women are involved 

  • The Black Mambas - the all female anti -poaching team 

  • Women are proving to be way less corruptible than men

  • June 23rd - 30th - world female ranger week - same week - every year

  • How it has evolved to - Women in conservative 

  • Amanda Dungeon - Ambassador - world female ranger week

  • Listen to Amanda on the Tough Girl Podcast

  • The goal of getting the untold stories out there

  • Connecting donors and their money to the right projects 

  • Conservation without funding is just conversation 

  • Needing to be able to track and measure the money and the impact

  • Making her money via speaking events at corporates and conferences 

  • Looking at sustainable tourism - with Wildlife Positive Travel 

  • Why every year is different

  • Moving into a camper van and planning to drive to New Zealand

  • How does it work with her husband?

  • Training for the Montane Arctic Spine Race (290 miles) 

  • Cold weather experience and training 

  • Training with Chat GBP

  • How to connect with Holly on social media

  • Putting herself into more uncomfortable situations

  • Final words of advice and wisdom for other women who want to get outside their comfort zone

  • Think Tall - Start Small

  • Get prepared 

  • Win or Learn

  • Smile through the pain

  • A positive mindset is a resilient mindset          


Social Media


Holly Budge

Instagram: @hollybudge


Wildlife Positive Travel


How Many Elephants

Instagram: @howmanyelephants


World Female Ranger Week

 


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