Read about our top 15 candidates
Each year we recognize the work of 6 exceptional grassroots conservationists at the Whitley Awards.
We received a total of 112 applications this year. The standard was exceptionally high, and included a great diversity of projects spanning Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Following comprehensive assessment, we have reached a shortlist of our top 15 candidates. Each are stand-out conservation leaders, doing incredible work in their local communities for wildlife, habitats and people:
- Elisa Areano: Strengthening sharks and rays fisheries management in Guatemala
- Kahindi Changawa: Enhancing marine turtle conservation and coastal livelihoods in Kenya
- YokYok Hadiprakarsa: Guardians of the Helmeted Hornbill: Saving their last stronghold in Indonesia
- Abdullahi Hussein Ali: A landscape-level approach to conserve the hirola antelope, Kenya
- Rachel Ikemeh: Advancing participatory conservation actions for chimpanzees in Southwestern Nigeria
- Mochamad Indrawan: A network of community conservation areas for the Banggai Crow, Indonesia
- Bibhuti Lahkar: Conserving the Critically Endangered Bengal Florican bird – an integrated conservation approach in India
- Estrela Matilde: Enhanced sea turtle conservation through reduction of single-use plastic, Principe
- Samuel Mutisya: Space for giants: expansion of black rhino conservation efforts in Laikipia, Kenya
- Rita Ratsisetraina: Bringing the unique red-ruffed lemur back from the brink, Madagascar
- Gabriela Rezende: Connecting habitat for black lion tamarin monkeys in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil
- Rodrigo Soria-Auza: Protecting ecosystem functions in key watersheds for people and highland biodiversity, Bolivia
- Jeanne Tarrant: Putting frogs first: a strategy for conserving South Africa’s threatened amphibians
- Phuntsho Thinley: Stepping up anti-poaching patrols to prevent local extinction of the alpine musk deer in Western Bhutan
- Valentin Omasombo Wotoko: Partnering farmers to protect bonobo apes in the forests of Democratic Republic of Congo
We are in the process of going back to the candidates with questions, taking up references and conducting rigorous due diligence through our broad NGO and alumni network. Our expert Judging Panel, made up of individuals from some of the UK’s leading conservation organisations, will then further the selection down to six finalists, who will be invited to London in late April for interview.
Congratulations to all the candidates who have made it to this stage.
Watch this space!
