Joan Root

Joan Root (18 January 1936 — 13 January 2006) was a Kenyan conservationist, ecological activist and Oscar-nominated filmmaker. With her film-maker husband, Alan Root (b. 19 May 1937, London), she made a series of acclaimed wildlife films. The couple divorced in 1981 and Alan Root settled in Nairobi after the divorce was finalized.

Born in Nairobi in 1936 as Joan Wells-Thorpe, Root was the daughter of Edmund Thorpe, a British banker who immigrated to Kenya to start a new life and became a successful coffee planter. Mother Lilian (Johnnie) Thorpe née Walker

Decades before wildlife films such as March of the Penguins, Joan and Alan Root pioneered filming animal migrations without interference from human actors. Their movies were narrated by such distinguished actors as Orson Welles, David Niven, James Mason and Ian Holm. Their 1979 Survival documentary, "Mysterious Castles of Clay", was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

The Roots introduced Dian Fossey to the gorillas she would later die trying to save, took Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis over Kenya in their balloon, and covered much of Africa in their famous single-engine Cessna, their amphibious car, and their balloon, at one time equipped with a raft for water landings.

Following the Roots' divorce, she received the Lake Naivasha farm, along with their airplane and a cash settlement for the films they had made together.

After her divorce Joan Root became very involved in conservation projects at and around Lake Naivasha, included supporting scientists and volunteers from the Earthwatch Institute who were monitoring environmental conditions. She also chaired and funded an anti-poaching "Task Force" in the area. The Task Force strictly enforced fishing restrictions around Lake Naivasha, arresting fishermen and confiscating and burning nets, in an attempt to stop overfishing and in particular catches of undersized fish. This was however controversial with locals who saw Lake Naivasha as a necessary and communal resource of food.

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