Summary

The Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders (EWCL) class nine is comprised of twenty-five participants from U.S.-based institutions, as well as international conservationists from Ecuador, Indonesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka. The class has had two in-person training sessions so far, the first one between May 16th and May 20th, 2022, and the second one from May 1st – 5th, 2023. They are divided into four project teams; all focused on tackling the threats posed to pangolin species. Specifically, the teams are working on the following campaigns: empowering local pangolin champions internationally (partner Save Pangolins), researching the demand for pangolin scales in Vietnam’s traditional medicine practice (partner WildAid), developing ethical pangolin monitoring devices (partner Tikki Hywood Foundation), and addressing illegal wildlife trade in Indonesia (partner Planet Indonesia). They will reconvene in Washington, D.C., on November 30th & December 1st, 2023 for their final training session and graduation celebration.