The Disney Conservation Fund has announced its 2021 Conservation Heroes along with Conservation Legacy Awards.
(Disney)
What’s Happening:
- Disney Parks Blog has released profiles on the 15 Disney Conservation Heroes from 2021, who were offered grants through the Disney Conservation Fund.
- New this year is the Conservation Legacy Awards, the first of which was bestowed upon Kim Sams, Disney’s former Enterprise Social Responsibility Director who helped establish the Disney Conservation Fund.
- The second Conservation Legacy Award was given to retired Imagineer Joe Rohde for his contributions to the Disney’s Animal Kingdom Advisory Board, which helped make the Disney Conservation Fund possible.
- Here is a quick summary of the 15 Disney Conservation Heroes, with more information available on Disney Parks Blog.
- Pedro Viteri – A Guatemalan farmer who adopted sustainable ranching practices and kept a third of his property as a nature reserve for almost 400 wildlife species to thrive in.
- John Aitchison – A Scottish cinematographer and filmmaker who helped to establish a Mission Blue “Hope Spot” along the Argyll Coast and Islands for the preservation of basking sharks, Eurasian otters, and critically endangered Flapper Skates.
- Maurits Kafiar – A member of an Indigenous tribe in Indonesia whose efforts in creating Raja Ampat’s terrestrial ecotourism programs and community-based conservation initiatives has led to an 80% reduction in birt hunting.
- Luis Soto – Having devoted his career to studying cotton-top tamarin monkeys in Colombia, Luis not only pioneered research of the species but helped secure protected forest reserves for wildlife, trained new biologists, developed new research techniques, and authored more than 30 publications.
- La Réserve des Gorilles de Tayna Team – This organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo manages the Tayna Nature Reserve, a protected area of land for the preservation of gorillas that also engaged the local community to help conduct a survey of great apes within the 900 square kilometer reserve that shows hope for the future of the species.
- Enkhburen (Buren) Nyam – Buren’s work in snow leopard conservation includes securing the Tost Mountains in Mongolia as a federally protected nature reserve and has engaged with local farmers to compensate families for livestock losses from snow leopards.
- Stephano Asecheka – The first member of the Barabaig community in Tanzania to to work with lion conservationists, Stephano has played a key role in decreasing traditional and retaliatory lion hunting in the Ruaha landscape, inspiring the next generation to follow in his footsteps.
- Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya – Growing up on a small farm in Peru surrounded by Andean highland landscapes, Ruthmery has dedicated her career to protecting wildlife and rainforests, helping to protect the Andean spectacled bear and endangered plant species.
- Yolanda Rodriguez – Living in a biodiversity hotspot in southern Costa Rica, Yolanda who started a family business to raise and care for butterflies and led the Rancho Quemado Community Biological Monitoring Group to monitor and protect local herds of peccaries from hunting and habitat loss.
- Ana Beatriz Cordeiro – Ana helped transform her community in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil into a center for sustainable agriculture and nature conservation, including a private wildlife reserve for endangered golden lion tamarin monkeys and a forested overpass that is helping golden lion tamarins safely cross an interstate highway.
- Edgar Coulson and Adonis Coulson – These cousins have worked together to protect sea turtles along the southeastern coast of Nicaragua, an important nesting area for critically endangered hawksbill, leatherback, and green sea turtles.
- Theophilus Taylor – A reformed sea turtle catcher turned conservationist, Theophilus helps protect sea turtles around Saint Kitts and Nevis, monitoring multiple species, assisting with rehabilitation, and helping to educate the community about their importance.
- Swann Htet Naing Aung – Following a family legacy of conservation, Swan didn’t let a pandemic or political unrest in Myanmar hinder his efforts to look after Burmese Star Tortoises, monitoring reintroduced tortoises and conducting anti-poaching patrols to protect this critically endangered species.
- William Ferrufino – Growing up surrounded by bird songs in Bolivia, William has helped engage the Lecos Indigenous People to help protect wildlife in addition to communities and ranchers to help animals like the Andean bear, Geoffroy’s woolly monkey, and military macaw.
- Fernando Ayerbe – A Colombian biologist turned self-taught illustrator who has become one of the most important wildlife illustrators in Colombia, using his talent to encourage more people to learn about nature.