Working with two teams of Food Innovation students at Ulster University, Jonny has launched consumer surveys to test the market for his two in-development consumer brands, Malawi Mountain Gin (MMG) and Snow Leopard Restaurant (MMG).
Both brands aim to inspire interest in, and donate 10% of net profits to, the conservation of their respective landscapes, and be based on sustainable ingredients. MMG and SLR are part of Jonny’s new nature edutainment startup, Jonny Hanson Ventures.
Click here to complete the MMG survey and here to complete the SLR survey.
Please note terms and conditions for survey completion prizes may apply.
Jonny has been awarded a 2023 Nuffield Farming Scholarship by the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, a program engaging future farming leaders with the future of farming.
Jonny said, “With a foot in both camps, I’ll be researching ‘Large carnivore reintroductions to Britain & Ireland: farmers’ perspectives & management options’.”
“I’m especially grateful to my sponsor, the Thomas Henry Foundation, whose generous support will enable my program of travel and study.”
From left: Rinzin Phunjok Lama, Maurice Schutgens, Jonny Hanson and Nikki Shrestha during fieldwork in Nepal in 2014
Jonny’s final PhD paper – with input, data and analysis from co-authors Maurice Schutgens, Nabin Baral and Nigel Leader-Williams – on the potential of snow leopard tourism in the Annapurna region of Nepal has been published open access in Taylor & Francis’s Tourism Planning & Development journal.
Three generations cycle length and breadth of Ireland for 40th anniversary of round–the–world trip.
In September 1981, John Hanson and fellow Ulsterman John Rodgers set off on an epic bike journey from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, that took them around the world in 12 months and 13,000 miles.
Raising over £50,000 for development charity Tearfund, John Hanson also published a book on the journey, Around the World in Cycle Clips, and donated his bicycle to the Ulster Transport Museum, where it remains on display.
“The main purpose of the round-the-world cycle was to draw attention to the appalling that millions of people didn’t have food to eat or clean water to drink.” Rev John Hanson
In 1998, John Hanson and his son Jonny, then aged 10, cycled the 330 miles from Cork to Coleraine by tandem in 3.5 days. They raised money for repairs to the roof of their church, Second Ballybay Presbyterian, and for the Camphill Community at Ballybay. They never got round to writing a book about it but the tandem is still in use today.
“The ‘get-up-and-go’ that characterises these cycling adventures is the same ‘get-up-and-go’ required to transition our economies and societies to sustainability. Everyone has a part to play.” Dr Jonny Hanson
To mark this special 40th anniversary, John, Jonny and Jonny’s eldest children, Joshua (11) and Bethany (10), will cycle the length and breadth of Ireland from Tralee, Co Kerry, to Jubilee Farm, Co Antrim, on two tandems, 14 – 20 August 2022. They’ll be raising money to support the work of Tearfund and Jubilee in tackling the causes and effects of climate change, while also highlighting the need for action on these issues from church leaders and churchgoers in particular.
“We’re looking forward to seeing different parts of Ireland and feeling good about cycling across it.” Joshua and Bethany Hanson
This is the Hanson Global Cycle: 40 years. 3 generations. 1 world.
The third in my series of short videos, from our family adventure around Europe in 80 days, is from Aachen, most famous as the medieval court of Charlemagne.
Jonny and research assistant Rinzin P Lama interviewing a Buddhist monk at Thame monastery, Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal, February 2014
Jonny’s penultimate PhD paper on human-snow leopard coexistence in Nepal’s Everest & Annapurna regions has just been published open access in Springer Nature’s Environmental Management journal. Click here to read or download the article.
Jonny with colleagues (from left) Aruna Bahia of the Co-op Foundation, Tiziana O’Hara of Co-operative Alternatives and Julie Hoey of Azor Community Farm.
Jonny’s involvement in the Cultivating Community Farming project – aimed at increasing the capacity of 10 early-stage community farming projects across Northern Ireland – was featured in this Farming Life article and on BBC Radio Ulster’s flagship daily new programme, Good Morning Ulster (from 22:43 here). Inspired by a workshop on food and farming hosted by Jonny at the NI Science Festival Sustainability Fair, journalist and commentator Rosalind Skillen featured Jonny in this piece on the importance of vision and imagination for effecting change.
Big cats are one of planet earth’s most iconic animal families.
The pinnacle of natural selection, they occupy a unique place in human culture and imagination. Despite this, big cats are under threat like never before, as they struggle to adapt to the Anthropocene. Join big cat conservationist Dr Jonny Hanson for an interactive exploration of this story, including the science of big cats, their conservation and our fascination with them.
Told through the medium of Jonny’s own fascination – from tracking leopards in Africa as a teenager and working with most big cat species in captivity, through to work on snow leopard conservation and rewilding Ireland – this live show will leave you even more fascinated by big cats.
