How we turned YouTube attention into wildlife protection | Markus Gilles | TEDxBoston

Wherever someone is protecting the planet, there is a story people are hungry to hear. And yet, our newsfeeds are filled with influencers peddling consumer products and rage bait. A successful media entrepreneur turned his attention to leveraging the attention economy to share the stories of gamechangers in the conservation world. Through a series of campaigns, the channel funnels support and funds to drive meaningful change around the world. Markus Gilles is a serial entrepreneur with a background in both the NGO and tech sectors, and a sociologist by training. After exiting a German media startup and spending time in New York, Markus took a break from startup life and backpacked from Alaska to Patagonia. What started as a desire to explore our natural planet turned into a mission to save it. Seeing firsthand how our ecosystems have come under threat, Markus co-founded Planet Wild to help protect and restore wildlife and wild places through an innovative crowdfunding media model. The Planet Wild video platform has built a community of over 25k supporters who back monthly rewilding missions that bring back endangered species, clean up our oceans, and restore forests all over the world. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx