Leigh Wolfaardt with The Albatrosses of the Prince Edward Islands in her studio, photograph by Anton Wolfaardt
Leigh Wolfaardt is a South African artist who is inspired by islands and their spectacular wildlife, with albatrosses being a special love. Leigh is also the partner of Anton Wolfaardt, Project Manager for the Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project. For a live auction that was held onboard the Flock to Marion AGAIN! 2025 voyage to raise funds for the project, she donated her specially painted The Albatrosses of the Prince Edward Islands depicting the island group’s five breeding species.
Leigh Wolfaardt’s The Albatrosses of the Prince Edward Islands, painted in gouache and graphite pencil, is available for purchase as a limited edition giclée print
Leigh wrote to the MFM Project shortly after the auction: “I was delighted with the enthusiastic response that my artwork generated at the live auction. My painting was created specifically to generate funds for the MFM Project, which is aiming to eradicate invasive mice from Marion Island to protect its globally important and remarkable seabirds”. To raise further funds for the project, Leigh has offered limited edition giclée prints of the original artwork for sale with 50% of all proceeds generated donated to the project.
Prints were available for sale at both the Global Birdfair in the United Kingdom in July and at the South African Bird Fair in September 2025. More recently, her prints have winged their way to South America to join expedition ships heading into the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Peninsula during the 2025/26 austral summer to raise further funds via onboard auctions and sales.
To date, Leigh has been able to sponsor 23 hectares from sales of her numbered and signed prints, as recorded on the project’s Honour Roll in the Rockhopper Penguin category. She writes: “If you are interested in purchasing one of these prints and supporting the project to rid the island of the devastating effects of the mice on these beautiful birds, visit my website here.”
The MFM Project is most grateful for the generous sponsorship it has received from Leigh Wolfaardt. It is heartening to have such committed supporters!
John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 27 February 2025
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Wandering Albatrosses by Leigh Wolfaardt, painted for the inaugural World Albatross Day on 19 June 2020, with its theme of “Eradicating Island Pests”
The Mouse-Free Marion Project is a registered non-profit company (No. 2020/922433/08) in South Africa, established to eradicate the invasive albatross-killing mice on Marion Island in the Southern Ocean. The project was initiated by BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate. For more information or to support the project please visit mousefreemarion.org
