Anneka Svenska is a naturalist, broadcaster and film maker in

VEGAN
FILMMAKER
Anneka Svenska is a naturalist, broadcaster and film maker in Europe. She has produced
many wildlife films specifically inwil dl if e crime, films for animal & environment al
charit ies and wil dl if e conservat ion.
Originally started to train as a Vet before embarking on drama school, a degree in
Environmental Studies and Film. She writes for many animal & ethical magazines
including Dog?s Today, K9 Magazine, Baref oot Vegan, VegFest Express & Veganuary. Her
work also included TV shows and as an animal expert as well as co-founding the dog
rescue charity ?K-9 Angel s?in 2011. Over the last three years, she has rescued hundreds
of dogs from all over the world and appeared in many newspaper articles and blogs about
her rescue and charity work.
Anneka now produces strong films and campaigns, some created to give animal and
environmental charities a much needed voice in the world of television. She also
produces and fronts important documentaries which draw attention to what is taking
place in our own planet earth. In addition, she also come on-board as one of Whal ef est
Live?s main presenters and in 2016 she is also filming with The Dog?s Trust , as well as a
powerful conservation documentary on the all female South African anti-rhino poaching
unit ?The Bl ack Mambas?for Hel ping Rhinos, produced by Nigel Marven and Image Impact
Fil ms.
Anneka is a renowned as a wol f ent husiast and handl er and worked alongside both European and
North American Timber Wolves. Anneka is not afraid to speak her mind and is quite at home
swimming with great whites, ?tracking wolves in the wild and anything which involves dangerous,
or rather, misunderstood animals.?
FILMMAKER
She is also known as an organic healthy guru. Recognized as an expertise in juicing, smoothies and
vegan raw eating. Anneka is now heading up the new Vegan juicing and Smoothy page for charity
VIVA! as ?The Little Green Angel?and is also is training to teach power yoga.
With so much at hand, The
New Vegan Times wanted to
find out from Anneka her own
story. She was amazing!
Replied immediately to our
requests, and went even
overboard by providing us
videos, pictures, and above all
her friendly go getter attitude.
We are so proud to present
Anneka Svenska as our front
cover page for this month.
1. Woul d you l ike t o share wit h our audience your f amil y hist ory?And how t hey inf l uence you in
your pat h?
EARLYYEARS
I grew up in the 70?s in a meat eating British family who adored their Sunday roasts and their daily
fry up breakfasts with bacon. It was only when I got to the age of eight did I stumble upon a stand in
my local town with leaflets depicting the abuse and slaughter of farm animals, this was when I
realised that I was completely ignorant to the truth about what I was eating. That day onwards I
never touched any more meat. My family, sadly, were not supportive and I was subjected to a visit
to the headmaster and teacher where they tried to make me ?see the danger?In what I was doing
and that by leaving out meat, my growth and health would be compromised. My mother carried on
feeding me meat and I would simply hide it under the curtain in my living room and flush it down
the toilet later on what she wasn?t looking. After the age of sixteen, my family finally endured my
vegetarian diet, but they carried on eating meat. My two children have been raised to be veggie /
vegans, but my eldest child of sixteen has rebelled recently and asked to eat meat. My youngest
continues to be vegetarian.
2. Tel l us more about why
you are now support ing
environment al issues?
What mot ivat es you t o
ent er t his arena?
I have always supported
environmental issues from
a child and part of my
university education was
Environmental Studies. I
am appalled at what
people throw at the earth,
they only deal with an
issue when it happens, not
before it happens.
Everyone is simply waiting
for the oil to run out
before they 100% change
over to clean fuels? .we
don?t have time. Global
warming is not going to
slow down now, our
oceans are full of rubbish
and all of our animals are
being hunted, poisoned or
are losing their habitats.
My mother was engaged to
Greenpeace co-founder
Ben Metcalfe before he
died and he was also an
influence on me. He would
tell me stories of the ?old
Greenpeace?before it
became a huge corporation
and how a few good
souled individuals came
together to change the
world. It really comes
down to the individuals
now I believe, not the huge
mega charities.
It?s the small and powerful film
makers and the strong and brave
individuals who will change the
world in some way.
3. What ot her areas you wil l l ike t o be invol ve in t he next 3 t o 5 years?
LIFEEVENTS
In the next 3-5 years I will be headed in two directions ? I will be carrying on making mainstream
wildlife TV as this is also very important, as it means I can get huge TV shows out about large
misunderstood predators and other animals that people persecute. It also allows me to have a
pedestal to use for my passion, which is conservation and saving the planet. My passion is my
small, conservation films. I would like to carry on to make powerful films which work along the
same lines as Racing Extinction, Unity, Bloodlions and The Cove etc. We can screen anything we
want now on the internet and so I don?t need a large TV channel to agree to show my films. I can
simply go ahead, make them and show them myself on the internet.
4. What is your great est accompl ishment so f ar?
I don?t feel like I have accomplished anything close to what I would like to, so I am still looking at
tomorrow to make as much change as possible before the end of my life. I have rescued over 300
dogs from Romania and Thailand, but that was just ?bailing water out of a bucket?? until cruelty
ends, this is not going to solve the underlying problems of dog cruelty worldwide. Some people
are happy to carry on doing this, but I felt that I needed to do something bigger and more
powerful. I have just started to get out to cover international organisations such as The Black
Mamba anti-poaching squad in South Africa. This is great for small change, but still nowhere close
to what I want to achieve. Media is an amazing way to make change and influence thousands. Until
I feel that I have REALLY done something big to help the world?s wildlife, I won?t ever be satisfied.
Until politics change and the world stops eating animals, I will never be at peace.
ANNEKA'SOPINION
5. In your opinion, pl ant based / vegan
movement is heading t he right way?
Yes it is, but there is too much division at the
moment. Too many vegans fighting vegans
over the abolishionist approach versus single
campaign veganism. As far as I am concerned,
if anyone is trying to make the change over to
veganism, this is amazing and wonderful and
they should be congratulated no matter how
long it takes. It can be very hard for people to
embrace such a new lifestyle, but everything
is going really well in general for veganism,
as there are thousands of vegans and
vegetarians now, vegan restaurants and
vegan products on the market. There was
none of this when I was growing up, so
change is real and I can see it. We just need to
now stop breeding animals for meat and cows
for milk and we might have a chance to save
our planet before it is too late.
6. Vegan seems t o become popul ar among
art ist s, f amous peopl e,but t he regul ar
peopl e are not real l y t hat invol ved. Why
such a l ow l evel of part icipat ion?
America is st il l onl y 7% vegan! A very l ow
number. Any ideas, suggest ions t hat we can
appl y?
When I hit an area of strong meat eaters, it
always seems to be in farming communities.
When I was driving across the USA I would
come into towns in the middle of nowhere
and they would laugh at me if I asked for a
veggie burger. In the UK, there is very much a
farming community also when you get out of
London and end up in the sticks. I feel it is a
cultural thing. My kids are growing up in a
rural countryside village and they are the
only vegetarians there. The sad thing is, many
of their school friends would like to be
vegetarian and understand why my kids don?t
eat meat, but their parents are forcing them
to still eat meat. Until education prevails and
people start to learn that veganism is the
healthiest way to live, people will constantly
think that you are unhealthy without meat or
dairy protein.
It comes down to education, education,
education.
Also people complain that vegetarian diet is
more expensive? this is only because people
don?t cook and prepare enough of their food
from fresh. If they are buying ready veggie
meals, it will be expensive, so get out there,
grow your own food or budget and go source
fresh veg and pulses from scratch. You can
cook in bulk and freeze casseroles etc, it very
easy.
ANNEKAWO
RLWIDE
Check out YouTube Channel ?Green World TV?here:
https:/ / www.youtube.com/ channel/ UCfsRp0AAJQII4EIfZeVoeRw
twitter : @annekasvenska
Instagram: wildlife_annekasvenska
British TV Broadcaster and Conservationist
How you too can save the world: https:/ / www.youtube.com/ watch?v=_Bp0H-q8-es
VegFestUK London: https:/ / www.youtube.com/ watch?v=hTCWlUthQHA
VegFestUK Bristol: https:/ / www.youtube.com/ watch?v=UwVtqJ9iLd8
Meat The Movie: https:/ / www.youtube.com/ watch?v=FW_al-VoIfs
Anneka new Black Mamba Film: https:/ / www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zFBXNePubjg
Vegan Juicing page for Charity Viva.
Vlog films (The Black Mamba film will be online
in a couple of weeks)
https:/ / www.youtube.com/ watch?v=s6DkQFtmliE
THE
it really is small world! At many times we
forget that outside the USA, there are
thousands of individuals who are leading by
example. Anneka is one of them!
We were looking for a vegan, yet we came
accross somebody that has been involved
in animal welfare, TV, films, worldwide
events, etc.
We hope that you have enjoyed this
publication and we would love to hear your
comments.
TNVT
V
E
G
A
N
REVOLUTION
THE
V
E
G
A
N
REVOLUTION