OUR PATRONS

STEVE BACKSHALL

Wildlife TV Presenter

Steve Backshall is a familiar face and house-hold name, perhaps best-known for his phenomenally successful Deadly series. The most recent, Deadly Mission Shark for CBBC inspires children to become shark ambassadors. 

An all-action hero, Steve has led overseas expeditions and explored some of the most incredible places on the planet. He recently travelled across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans filming Whale for Sky TV, a ground-breaking programme tracking our most iconic, yet threatened, species. He has also appeared in series two of Our Changing Planet for BBC One, an ambitious seven-year series documenting six of the planet's most threatened ecosystems.

His most recent book, Deep Blue published in 2023, is a blend of memoir, travel, and marine and environmental science that takes us on a tour of the many worlds of aquatic life.

Steve has been a powerful voice for sharks and rays for many years, particularly in changing people’s mindsets behind their unfortunate reputation, and raising awareness of the fisheries threatening them with extinction.

ROGER MUNNS

Underwater Cameraman

Roger Munns is an Emmy and BAFTA award-winning cameraman. He was one of the principal cameramen on Blue Planet II and has worked extensively on other landmark BBC natural history productions such as Life, Life Story and Life in Cold Blood.

Roger has been a friend and vocal supporter of the Manta Trust for many years, even before becoming an official patron.

SARAH RICHARD

Founder of Girls that Scuba

Sarah Richard is the founder of Girls that Scuba - now the largest female dive community. A full-time digital nomad, Divemaster and travel blogger, Sarah started Girls that Scuba to connect women who have a passion for the ocean and diving with each other and just three years later Girls that Scuba has over 500,000 members from around the globe. Girls that Scuba share stories of female empowerment, plastic education and ocean restoration as well as encouraging and inspiring more people to start scuba diving. Click the link below to find out more about Girls that Scuba, including their female only dive trips and plastic and waste free online store.

Sarah is dedicated to supporting vital marine conservation, including the work of the Manta Trust. We are delighted to welcome her to the Manta Team and look forward to many exciting future collaborations!

ZOONA NASEEM

PADI Course Director & Marine Conservationist

Zoona Naseem was one of the first female Maldivians to qualify as a PADI Scuba Instructor in 1996 and went on to become the Maldives’ first woman to obtain the rank of PADI Course Director (which represents just 1% of the diving industry). Having worked for over 24 years as a PADI professional in a number of resorts and dive centres teaching a huge number of local Maldivians to dive, Zoona went on to open her own dive centre and PADI 5 star Instructor Development facility called Moodhu Bulhaa.

Zoona is a diving icon in the Maldives and is much respected for breaking gender barriers as well as being a strong advocate for marine conservation and encouraging the next generation to take the plunge. Her work has been recognised by numerous national and international awards, most recently the Local Hero Award at the Oceans Awards 2019. 

Zoona aims to convince Maldivian parents that the ocean is a safe place and to encourage them to allow their children to enjoy it. For her, in a country like the Maldives, the oceans should be their playground, and their children should be swimming before they walk.

HUSSAIN AGA KHAN

Focused on Nature Founder & Photographer

An avid tropical fish hobbyist since the age of five and a reptile and amphibian enthusiast for nearly as long, Hussain Aga Khan developed a keen interest in conservation at a young age and began scuba diving at 14. He uses his photography, from archives built over three decades through multiple expeditions, to inspire people to fall in love with nature. His exhibitions have been showcased in museums around the world, including at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, the Natural History Museum, Venice, and the National Museum of Natural History and Science, Lisbon.

In 2014, he founded Focused on Nature, an organisation that supports global biodiversity, education, and research initiatives. Hussain serves on the boards of Mission Blue and the Wild Dolphin Project, is a partner of the Shark Conservation Fund, a member of the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation’s Council for Hope and an Ambassador for the Natural History Museum, London. 

A long-time advocate for manta ray conservation, Hussain has championed the Manta Trust’s mission to protect these majestic creatures and the ecosystems they inhabit.

DAVID OAKES 

Actor and Ecologist

David Oakes is an actor, ecologist and patron of the Manta Trust.

On screen, he is best known for period drama, playing Prince Ernest in ITV’s Victoria, Godwin in Netflix’s Vikings: Valhalla, George Plantagenet in the BBC’s The White Queen and Juan Borgia in Showtime’s The Borgias. He will next be seen in ITV’s Bad Blood, Peter Moffat’s four-part drama about the infected blood scandal. His stage credits include the title role in Hamlet at the Rose Theatre, York, and Thomas Novachek in Venus in Fur and Christopher Marlowe in Shakespeare in Love, both in the West End.

David holds an MSc in Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology from the University of Exeter, where his final research project focused on painted dog conservation. He is now carrying out research funded by ARIA, the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency, within its Engineering Ecosystem Resilience opportunity space, exploring climate resilience across a range of species.

He produces and presents the award-winning natural history podcast Trees A Crowd, in conversation with scientists, artists and conservationists, and has written for a number of national newspapers. He speaks regularly on nature and conservation, most recently at Wildlife and Countryside Link’s Wild Summit in Bristol.

David sees the Manta Trust as home to his marine advocacy, and recently joined their delegation at CITES in Samarkand in 2025. He lent his voice to the Manta Trust’s Manta Story app, and recorded an early episode of Trees A Crowd with marine biologists on Laamu Atoll in the Maldives, including members of the Manta Trust team. He has also interviewed the Trust’s CEO, Guy Stevens, and the late Doug Allan, the award-winning wildlife cameraman and fellow Manta Trust patron.

He is also Vice President of The Wildlife Trusts, an ambassador for the Woodland Trust, Conservation Ambassador for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and a trustee of the Badger Trust.