And by buwaya, we mean the Filipino crocodile, not corrupt government officials.
For her work in changing the image of the lowly Filipino crocodile, Marites Galan-Balbas has been recognized by the Whitley Fund for Nature Awards 2014. “The 40-year-old will share the UK280,000 prize money with seven other winners of the ‘green oscar’ awards which recognize individuals working in grassroots nature conservation in developing countries,” reports Jessica Aldred in The Guardian.
Her work has been as much as changing the image of the crocodile as it has been about bringing back the crocodile from the brink of existinction. With only 100 of these buwayas left in the wild, the Whitley Fund of Nature Awards call it the “world’s rarest crocodile.” Galan-Balbas, who is the deputy director of 109-strong Mabuwaya Foundation have managed to lessen crocodile killings from 13 in 1998 to just 1 last year.
Good job, ma’am!
More about the awards here.
Screengrab from a YouTube video
