Whitley Award 2025 Winners Lead on Species Revival, Pacts for Private Protected Areas and Fight vs Plant Poaching
©Whitley Fund For Nature
Words by Whitley Fund For Nature
Covered by Lucy Jane Morris
IG: @conkernaturemagazine
IG: @lucymorriswild
First published 30th April at 8:00PM GMT
Cranes, Jaguars, Frogs Recovering Locally in Rwanda, Brazil, Argentina; Elephants, Monkeys Helped by Private Protection in Malaysia, Colombia; Gibbon Habitat Safeguarded in Java; Poaching of Orchids and Yews Addressed in Nepal.
UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising seven outstanding conservationists with 2025 Whitley Awards and £400,000 ($529,000) in funding to sustain their work to revive wildlife species in Rwanda, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Nepal, Indonesia and Malaysia.
At a time when governments are cutting overseas aid, the funding will help to ensure a future for species and their broader ecosystems, including jaguars, Bornean elephants, brown spider monkeys, Javan gibbons, the El Rincón stream frog, Grey Crowned Cranes, as well as Yew trees and orchids.
Dr Olivier Nsengimana will receive the 2025 Whitley Gold Award of £100,000 for rebuilding the Grey Crowned Crane population in his native Rwanda and for an ambitious plan to secure protection across East Africa for the iconic bird and its wetland habitat.
Three winners have led on a recovery in species facing local extinction, including the Grey Crowned Crane, jaguars in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, and the El Rincón stream frog in Argentina. Two are creating private protected areas with local landowners in landscapes now dominated by palm oil and cattle to safeguard the world’s smallest elephant in Malaysia and brown spider monkeys in Colombia. A primatologist in Indonesia is bolstering support for Javan gibbon habitat within a national park. In Nepal, a research fellow is addressing a surge in illegal poaching of orchids and Yew trees.
“Threatened species need not sympathetic words but practical help. It is wonderfully encouraging – and inspiring – to see the Whitley Awards recognise this and single out people who provide it with such distinction and dedication.””
Image credits: Ana Malagon, Shervin Hess, Hernán Povedano
Charity Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, will present the awards to Olivier and the six new winners on 30 April at the Royal Geographical Society in a ceremony that marks the 31st anniversary of the very first award. The event will be livestreamed on YouTube. The new winners will receive £50,000 each to fund their work. Meet the Winners and their story below:
MEET THE WHITLEY GOLD AWARD WINNER:
DR OLIVIER NSENGIMANA, RWANDA
UK charity, the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), is recognising Dr Olivier Nsengimana with the 2025 Whitley Gold Award for his leadership in rebuilding the Grey Crowned Crane population in Rwanda and for an ambitious plan to secure protection across East Africa for the iconic bird and its wetland habitat. Read his full story here.
“With one million species at risk of extinction, it is vital we find innovative ways to re-connect people with nature and co-create solutions to this crisis.”
Image credits: Lynn Von Gagen, Denver Zoo; James Roney, NGS
Dr Andrés Link, Colombia
Andrés is protecting brown spider monkeys in the lowland rainforests of central Colombia and reconnecting the species’ fragmented habitat through a network of private protected areas with local landowners.
Read his full story here.
Dr Yara Barros
Yara is protecting jaguars in Brazil’s Iguaçu National Park in the Atlantic Forest, where populations are growing and her team is teaching local communities how to co-exist with the apex predator.
Read her full story here.
Dr Farina Othman, Malaysia
Farina is saving the last 300 Bornean elephants in the east coast of Sabah State in Malaysia’s Borneo by working with large and small palm oil stakeholders to address shrinking habitat for the world’s smallest elephant.
Read her full story here.
Rahayu Oktaviani, Indonesia
Rahayu is ensuring a continuous canopy for the Endangered Javan gibbon on Java, one of the most densely populated islands on earth.
Read her full story here.
Dr Federico Kacoliris, Argentina
Federico is expanding protection for the most threatened amphibian in Argentina, the El Rincón stream frog, and its river habitat in the volcanic Somuncura Plateau.
Read his full story here.
Reshu Bashyal, Nepal
Reshu is addressing the illegal trade in orchids and yews in the country, which has been driven by soaring international demand for their medicinal and ornamental properties. This has left just 500 Maire’s Yew trees standing in the wild.
Read her full story here.
Habitat loss is one of the biggest drivers in the decline in wildlife species; the average size of wildlife populations has plunged by 73 percent over 50 years, according to the Living Planet report; the human population doubled over the same period. Habitat degradation, overexploitation, invasive species, disease and climate change are the biggest threats to wildlife worldwide.
“After three decades of funding grassroots conservation, our message is clear: conservation works. The winners are uniting people around the world behind a common goal of protecting nature. There’s real cause for hope here.”
The conservationists join a network of 220 Whitley Award alumni who play a powerful role in shaping the global environmental agenda and who have influenced more than 200 international and national policies since the charity’s creation in 1993.
The winners will take part in a series of events in London to amplify their achievements for people, wildlife and climate. In addition to the £50,000 in project funding, the Whitley Fund for Nature will provide each winner with communications and speech training, and introduce them to a network of Whitley award-winning conservation leaders across more than 80 countries.
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