Chief Executive of International Animal Rescue Indonesia Dr Karmele Llano Sanchez and her team have been honoured with an award for their work protecting and rehabilitating wildlife in Indonesia.
Dr Sanchez and her staff were selected to receive a 2013 Clark R Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award at the Conference of the Parties (CoP) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). They were nominated by Dr Sandra Altherr of Pro-Wildlife in recognition of their efforts made “in protecting and rehabilitating wildlife, including the slow loris” and their efforts to “combat wildlife crime through training and cooperation with Indonesia’s wildlife authorities.”
The award was presented at a reception on 5 March, co-hosted by the Species Survival Network (SSN) and FREELAND, an international organisation dedicated to making the world free of wildlife trafficking and human slavery.
On first hearing news of the award, Dr Sanchez said: “I’m thrilled to learn that we have been selected for this award. Certainly it gives me great personal satisfaction to have been chosen, but I’m also particularly pleased to see the efforts of my team recognised in such a public and positive way.”
IAR Chief Executive Alan Knight commented: “The work that Karmele and her team undertake to protect wildlife in Indonesia involves a real emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows. Receiving such a prestigious award definitely counts as a significant high! I’m delighted to see the team’s efforts being given such a strong seal of approval by the international wildlife protection community. We couldn’t be prouder of such an achievement.”
Dr Sanchez and the team run a Primate Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Ciapus, near Bogor, Java, which cares for slow lorises and macaques, and an Orangutan Rehabilitation and Conservation Centre in Ketapang, West Kalimantan. They recently held an official opening for the new Orangutan Centre and moved 18 babies onto the newly constructed site. Funding for the projects is raised via the Head Office in the UK.
To find out more about IAR’s projects in Indonesia visit http://www.internationalanimalrescue.org/where_we_work/4/Indonesia.html