Conservation in Time of War A Transformational Journey Through Beauty and Tragedy

About this book

Arriving in a war zone with many casualties, young veterinarian LoraKim Joyner lands in Guatemala during the 1980s, eager to follow her dream to save endangered parrots, the most vulnerable group of all birds. Striving to establish one of the first large-scale parrot conservation projects in Latin America, she is interrupted by the violent realities of Central America reeling from the impacts of the Cold War and the United States' business and foreign policy interests. After years of abysmal nest success rates due to poachers stealing chicks for the illegal wildlife trade, her spirit is broken when bulldozers tear down her beloved parrot nest trees. She returns to the United States feeling she has lost everything. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, LoraKim undertakes a journey of self-discovery. While studying to become a minister, grace steps in. Sustained by a deep understanding that everything is connected in beauty, she offers healing and hope to the parrots and people of Latin America, and to a world where climate change, terrorism, political polarization, and loss of biodiversity threaten us all.

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Biography

Birds have always called to LoraKim Joyner. Since an early age she always had birds in the home, out in the pigeon coop, or eating at the yard feeder. Her hope for avian flourishing led her to a B.S. in Avian Sciences and then to a D.V.M. where she specialized in birds. A later Masters in Preventive Veterinary Medicine emphasized avian research. Hearing birds call to her heart, she worked in other countries as a consultant in avian medicine and conservation, with an emphasis on parrot conservation. Her hopes for the birds led her to the Philippines, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala where she lived for several years. Her work with birds has also included working as a Clinical Instructor and Research Assistant Professor at the Nondomestic Avian Clinic at the College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University. There she later served as the Community Advocate, where she taught ethics and grief management as well as assisted staff, faculty, and clients in dealing with grief and ethical issues. Seeing the need to address human well-being, LoraKim obtained a M.Div degree, was ordained a Unitarian Universalist minister, and became a Certified Trainer in Nonviolent Communication. She served in parish ministry for 10 years and now is a community minister emphasizing Multispecies Ministry and Nonviolent Communication. She celebrates with joy her position as Co-Director of One Earth Conservation, a nonprofit organization, where she can support birds and people around the world make life-giving connections. Her approach is that of "Nurturing Nature" where the inherent worth, dignity, and needs of all individuals are incorporated into conservation strategies, organizational processes, and workshops and retreats she regularly leads. Recently her conservation work has taken her to Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guyana, and Paraguay.