Welcome to ELADIO FERNANDEZ Conservation Photography!

I’m an Associate Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), a naturalist, a researcher and a documentary filmmaker based in the Dominican Republic. My work focuses all the Caribbean islands as they are a biodiversity hotspot of poorly known animals, plants, and landscapes. At the same time, the Caribbean is seriously threatened by agriculture, tourism, uncontrolled development, poor management of natural resources, and climate change.

Aside from photography and filmmaking, I dedicate most of my time to science and conservation projects. Producing imagery and telling stories is a great to tool for conservation, education and science.

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Current Projects and Stories

Studies in Aristolochia of Hispaniola and Cuba

This project started out as a quest to photograph all the known species of pipe vines in the Caribbean, but since it has grown into a serious revision of the genus in collaboration with Gustavo Romero, Irina Ferreras (Oakes Ames Herbarium), Brian Farrell (MCZ), Bruno de Medeiros (Field Museum) and more recently Favio González and Natalia Pabón (Colombia). In 2019 we described three new Aristolochia species for Hispaniola (Phytotaxa) and more will be described in 2023. This project is made possible through the partial sponsorship of Fundacion Propagas.

The Life Cycle of Endemic Butterflies

Many of the endemic butterflies on the island of Hispaniola still have unknown life-cycles. Since the publication of my book "Transfomación, Ciclo de Vida de las Mariposas de La Española", I have worked on documenting photographically the life cycle of many of our butterflies and their hosts plants. My collaborator is professor Ruth Bastardo (UASD) with partial sponsorship from Fundacion Propagas.

Saving the Magnolias of Hispaniola

There are 5 species of Magnolias on the island of Hispaniola. Three of these are located in the Dominican Republic, while two are only found in Haiti. Almost all are listed as "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN Red List. I document their habitat, flowers, fruits, conservation efforts and their threats. I'm also collaborating with Haiti National Trust in Grand Bois, an area which holds the largest population of Magnolia ekmanii. We managed to establish a nursery in-situ that is currently producing around 10,000 plants a year.

A Revision of The Palms of Hispaniola

I'm currently working with Andrew Henderson (NYBG), Christine Bacon (University of Gothenburg), Teodoro Clase (JBSD) and Oscar Montero (JBSD) on a revision of the palms of Hispaniola with special emphasis on the genus Coccothrinax. We have just sent to publication an article describing 5 new palms, 4 in the DR and 1 in Haiti. More are likely to come once the DNA studies are completed. In the process I'm documenting all of them photographically for a revision and a new edition of my book, "Palmas de La Española".

Flamingo Rescue, Rehab and Release Project

The Dominican Republic has an unprecedented 200+ flamingos in captivity, most in hotels. The previous authorities did not pay attention to this situation, but the current Vice-Minister of Protected Areas, Federico Franco, wants to remedy this situation. I'm currently documenting and collaborating with a rescue, rehab, and release effort. Other organizations involved are ZOODOM and Grupo Acción Ecológica. Hotels are voluntarily turning in their flamingos. We are taking counter measures against flamingo trapping and poaching in the northwest part of the Dominican Republic.

Studies in Ghost Orchids of Hispaniola

Another one of my long-time subjects of interest is orchids. Since 2020, I've been working with James Ackerman (University of Puerto Rico) on describing a new species of ghost orchid and revising all the other in the Dendrophylax genus. Hispaniola has the highest number of ghost orchids in the Caribbean––10 species in total.

Eel Fishing in the Dominican Republic

American Eels fishing constitutes the main fishery of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Listed as "endangered" by the IUCN Red List, a kilo of these animals can fetch up to US$4,000 (beach prices in cash). The animals are exported alive all the way to China and eventually Japan. I have been documenting this story photographically over the last two years. Along Marvin Del Cid, we co-directed a documentary, currently in the post-process phase, that should be released in 2023.