Levison Wood

Levison James Wood , VR (born 5 May 1982) is an English explorer, writer, photographer and documentary-maker known for his long-form walking expeditions and his work highlighting environmental issues, Indigenous communities, and human stories from remote regions of the world. He has produced numerous books and television documentaries covering subjects ranging from conservation in the Amazon to following the migration of Elephants across Botswana. Levison is Chancellor at Staffordshire University, a UNICEF UK Ambassador, and WWF Ambassador.

Overland expeditions Beginning in December 2013, over the course of nine months, he undertook the first ever expedition to walk the entire length of the river Nile from the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda. The expedition was inspired by the explorers John Hanning Speke, Richard Francis Burton, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley. Wood was accompanied by numerous guides, journalists (including Matthew Power), and friends along the different stages of the route. The expedition was commissioned into a four part television programme for Channel 4 that aired in January 2015, and Wood detailed the trip in his book Walking the Nile. Power died during the programme from severe heat stroke. Wood was forced to abandon a section in South Sudan due to heavy fighting caused by civil war.

In 2015, Wood embarked a walk spanning the length of the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Bhutan, filming a documentary series and writing another book about the experience, which was published in January 2016.

In September 2017, he began a full circumnavigation of the Arabian Peninsula: travelling from Syria, through Iraq, the Gulf, crossing part of the Empty Quarter desert in Oman, traversing Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel to finish in Lebanon; an expedition totalling . During the course of the journey, he was embedded with Iraqi troops fighting ISIS where he witnessed the liberation of Sharqat and also encountered Palestinian guerrillas and Hezbollah operatives. He visited the city of Palmyra which was then under Russian control. This journey was documented in the Discovery series Arabia With Levison Wood.

Channel 4 broadcast Walking the Americas from January 2017, featuring an expedition from Mexico to Colombia.

In May 2020, Channel 4 commenced broadcasting Walking with Elephants, where Levison followed the 650-mile migration of elephants across Botswana.

In August 2023, Levison presented Levison Wood: Walking with...; a three-part wildlife documentary series that aired on Channel 4.