Former Director at BirdLife International, Hazell Shokellu Thompson, says he is retired, but he’s working as hard as ever as a lecturer, conservationist, author, and rice farmer. We chat with him from his home in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
What are you up to these days?
I’ve just written a book about common birds of Sierra Leone—an indigenous language guide. It’s something I’m quite passionate about. We have 18 indigenous languages in Sierra Leone, and you won’t find a field guide with local names. Birding is more accessible to people when they can relate to birds in their own language. I’ve also been teaching at the A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute at Jos University in Nigeria for the past five years. Additionally, I’ve been working with the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, where I’m a lifelong member and supporter.
You’re not retired at all!
I’m farming here in Sierra Leone as well—rice, specifically “swamp” rice. By planting rice in swamps, you don’t have to use chemicals or cut down trees. It’s completely organic, although on a small scale.
What took you to ‘retirement’?
I retired in 2017. Up until then, I had been Assistant Director and then Director for Capacity Development and Partnership at BirdLife International for eight or nine years in the UK, including a year as Interim Chief Executive. Before that, I was Africa Regional Director for BirdLife International, based in Nairobi, for seven years. It was a very busy time, and I made a conscious decision to spend more time with family and avoid working full-time until I completely burnt out.
I watch Mark Anderson in action. He’s under a heavy workload, yet he remains such a congenial fellow. I understand it’s not all glamour and birding trips.
I have a special place for Mark in my thoughts. I was Regional Director for BirdLife International in Nairobi when Mark became Director of BirdLife South Africa—luckily for the birds! I remember flying down to meet him so we could sit down and chat, get a first-hand sense of his vision, and provide him with the lowdown on regional aspects. From then on, we’ve remained fairly close, despite the distance.
Nairobi is such a busy place these days. What did you think of it?
It’s become such a microcosm of the world. It is busy, vibrant, and cosmopolitan, but it’s easy to get out of town—drive up to Naivasha or Nakuru, or head down to the beachfront towns of Mombasa and Malindi. And of course, from Kenya, it’s easy to get to Uganda, which also has wonderful birdlife, to Tanzania, and even further afield, like Botswana.
What did you miss about Sierra Leone?
Absolutely, the people. Life in Freetown, the capital city, can be busy, but it’s lived outdoors. People are almost always outside, interacting much more than in the West because of the sunny weather. You’ll be on your veranda, talking to neighbours, while people go up and down selling their wares. It can be noisy, but it’s vibrant.
If I were to visit, what meal would you recommend?
I’d go to Lumley Beach, buy fresh fish from the fishermen, grill it, and serve it on a bed of Jollof rice with “Oleleh”—finely ground beans made into a cake. I’d wash it down with a Star beer.
Life in the UK must’ve been quite different for you, then?
It was. When I joined BirdLife International, I had been completing my degree in Edinburgh, writing my PhD thesis on White-necked Picathartes, which I had been researching in Sierra Leone. When the opportunity with BirdLife International arose, I relocated to Cambridge, which was thankfully warmer than Edinburgh! Cambridge was also an easy place to live—a metropolitan city, which I love.
What inspired you to write your PhD on the White-necked Picathartes?
I was lecturing in Zoology at the University of Sierra Leone when Glyn Davies, who was working with the UK Department of Overseas Development (I think), contacted me. He had been working in Gola Forest, and there was an expedition from the University of East Anglia heading to the forest. He asked if I’d join as a national counterpart. We ultimately conducted the first-ever comprehensive bird survey of the Gola Forest. That’s when I first saw the bird, and I was fascinated by it. I thought, If I’m going to do a PhD, this must be it! It’s such an unusual-looking bird: black and white with a bald yellow head, and it looks like it’s wearing headphones! It doesn’t fly much—it hops around on the ground—and it’s quite unique in that it follows army ant columns in the forest and builds its nests from mud.
What stood out to you about Gola Forest, and what were the challenges there?
The diversity of plants, animals, and birds in the forest is amazing, but finding funding for conservation was quite hard. Early breakthroughs included interest and support from the RSPB for the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, as well as funding from the EU for what we were calling a peace park. I got involved in the 1980s and early 1990s, just as a civil war spilled over from Liberia into Sierra Leone. When the war subsided, we thought it would be good to establish the Gola Forest as a peace park since it straddles the border of the two countries. Not everyone—the politicians and local chieftains—was convinced it should be a protected area. They were suspicious of the foreign interest. For example, one chief thought there must be precious metals to be mined. But we were eventually able to convince them of the virtues of a National Park. These early challenges stuck with me because they highlighted how people rightly feel they should benefit from their resources, and they underscored the challenges of conservation motives.
What inspired you to get into Zoology in the first place?
That’s simple: a love of nature from a young age. I remember coming home from kindergarten with my pockets full of insects. Nature was always around back then. Where we lived next to the Botanical Gardens in Freetown, you’d see Green Monkeys running over the roof of the house. And there were people who inspired me, of course. The late Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai in Kenya was one. She inspired me at various stages of my career.
What inspires you now?
It’s so important for people to do their little bit, and that’s what I try to do. I have a passion for helping develop capacity in younger scientists, and it’s one of the most satisfying things—to see them become established.
Interviewed by Anton Crone for the March/April 2024 edition of African Birdlife magazine
