Meet Sacha Dench, ‘Human Swan’ who helped secure Britain’s lead ammunition ban

The Times of India

Meet Sacha Dench, the ‘Human Swan’ who helped secure a historic ban on lead ammunition in Britain and won the prestigious 2026 RSPB Medal; the move could protect hundreds of thousands of birds from lead poisoning

TOI Science Desk · Oct 16, 2026

For Sacha Dench, conservation has rarely meant standing at a distance. Known as the ‘Human Swan’ for flying alongside migrating birds in a paramotor, the Dartmoor-based conservationist has spent years taking difficult environmental issues into the field, often meeting the people at the centre of them.