On 4 October, World Animal Day, Karmele Llano Sanchez of IAR received an award from NAIDER, an ethical Spanish organisation committed to building ’a creative society that is economically innovative, socially just, and ecologically responsible.’
Karmele is one of three individuals to have been honoured by NAIDER as ’people of unquestionable value.’ All three were described as embodying the qualities and upholding the principles that are key to the company’s vision of a sustainable world which recognises and reconciles the needs of all who share it.
A veterinary surgeon by profession, Karmele is a passionate animal activist currently working for IAR in Indonesia to rescue and protect primates from the pet trade. She is focusing on macaque monkeys and slow lorises, but has also been heavily involved in the rescue and care of orangutans in Borneo. These highly endangered primates are being driven from the rainforest in their hundreds by massive deforestation to make way for the palm oil industry. While the adults are brutally killed, the traumatised babies are sold on as pets, destined to a lifetime in captivity on the end of a chain or in a cage. Karmele has assisted the work of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation to rescue and rehabilitate these helpless orphans, nursing them back to health and teaching them the skills they need to survive in the wild.
Alan Knight OBE, CEO of International Animal Rescue, flew out to Bilbao to attend the award ceremony. He says: “It is very apt that Karmele should receive this award on World Animal Day. I know no one more passionate or more dedicated to the animals’ cause than she is. Thanks to Karmele countless animals have been rescued from miserable lives in captivity, expertly cared for, and given a second chance at life in the wild. Together with her IAR colleague Femke den Haas from Holland, Karmele is leading a project that can make a real difference to animals in Indonesia.
“At IAR we are all very proud of Karmele’s achievements and greatly value the contribution she is making to the charity’s work to help suffering animals around the world.”