A Nigerian dedicated to the protection of pangolins, a Congolese who defends wildlife in the east of his country and a South African who works with elephants. Three Africans were rewarded this Thursday evening in London by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) out of the nine winners who received awards.
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What they have in common is a love of animals and a fierce fight for years to protect them.
First, there is Charles Emogor, a 29-year-old Nigerian scientist who has been fascinated by pangolins since childhood. Now a doctoral student at Cambridge, he works to change the behavior of populations in order to protect this most trafficked mammal in the world and which is on the verge of extinction.
Then, Bantu Lukambo, 51, was rewarded for his three-decade fight to save gorillas, chimpanzees, okapis and hundreds of species of birds of Virunga National Parka UNESCO world heritage site in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. An area weakened by armed conflicts, poaching and oil interests. He then found himself in dangerous situations, like the day he was buried alive for saving a baby gorilla from traffickers.
The third winner was awarded posthumously. This is Rudi Van Aarde, who died in 2021 at the age of 71 and who spent a large part of his life understanding the movements of elephant populations in southern Africa. He was pioneering in his scientific and regional approach to guiding conservation decisions. A legacy that still endures today.
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