Stefania Falcon is a Cape Town–based environmental conservationist and qualified paralegal (University of Cape Town) whose work bridges legal, scientific, and ethical dimensions of wildlife protection and environmental governance. She holds a BSc in Sociology from La Sapienza University of Rome and serves as Programme Coordinator at the Wild Law Institute, where she supports the operationalisation of the Rights of Nature and promotes ecocentric approaches to governance.
Stefania is deeply embedded in a number of international wildlife protection networks, where she plays a key role in advancing collaborative, science-based, and ethical conservation efforts. As a wildlife law specialist and global advocate for the Rights of Nature, she serves as Secretariat of the Antarctic Rights Initiative, supporting the development of governance frameworks that recognise Antarctica as a rights-bearing entity. Her networking experience, combined with her long-standing engagement with communities and institutions, strengthens the project’s outreach and coordination capacity. Over the past five years, Falcon has also worked closely with Khoi communities in Cape Town, particularly through her involvement in a landmark court case led by the EMS Foundation to free three African elephants from the Johannesburg Zoo. This case remains ongoing and emblematic of the growing intersection between Indigenous advocacy, animal justice, and environmental law.
Within this project, Stefania will play an organisational and logistical role, supporting the project Coordinator. Drawing on her extensive networks and community relationships, she will lead the engagement with Khoi and Venda communities of Southern Africa, ensuring that African Indigenous voices and ethical governance principles are central to the project’s design and implementation.