Ian Redmond Award 2015

The Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) – Ian Redmond Conservation Award was created to encourage innovation, inspire leadership, and offer hope in the field of great ape conservation in Africa and Asia. The 2nd GRASP – Ian Redmond Conservation Awards winners were chosen by a five-member committee comprised of representatives from UN Environment, UNESCO, the GRASP Secretariat, and the GRASP Scientific Commission, as well as Ian Redmond himself. Four winners — three from Africa and one from Asia — each played an integral role helping ensure the survival of great apes worldwide.

Guinea is a major hub for wildlife trafficking internationally. Among other wildlife crime products, great apes are thus illegally exported by organized criminal networks. To target this problem, the GALF Project (Guinée-Application de la Loi Faunique) was launched in February 2012 by WARA, within the EAGLE Network. In order to strengthen the wildlife law enforcement and fight corruption it works closely with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Ministry of State for Justice, the National Central Bureau of INTERPOL and other government agencies. GALF´s team of 10 people is currently managed by Mamadou Saidou Deba Barry (Guinea), the coordinator.

The winners of the 2nd awards, chosen by a review panel comprised of great ape experts, are:

  • Peter Apell, from Uganda, East Africa, who trains local veterinarians and provides emergency care for apes caught in snares as part of the Chimpanzee Health Interventions Monitoring Programme (CHIMP)
  • Mamadou Saidou Deba Barry, from Guinea, West Africa, who investigates the illegal trade in great apes and other endangered wildlife as part of the Guin&eacut;e-Application de la Loi Faunique (GALF) programme, which operates as part of the EAGLE Network*
  • Edwin Sabuhoro, from Rwanda, Central Africa, who promotes community-based conservation and alternative livelihoods in and around the Volcanoes National Park through Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village
  • Jamartin Sihite, from Indonesia, Southeast Asia, who has successfully reintroduced 167 orangutans into the wild and protected rainforests since 2012 through the Bornean Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF)