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Ichu is a Cameroonian and a member of the IUCN Pangolin Specialists Group. He holds a Master’s Degree in Natural Resource Management and has served as an intern with the Takamanda National Park and the World Wildlife Fund. He also volunteered with the Cameroon Society for the Sustainable Development of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection (CASDNREP). Presently, he is a Fellow in the MENTOR-POP (Progress on Pangolins) Fellowship program organized by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Zoological Society of London. Since January, 2016, he has been actively involved in developing and implementing projects to help conserve pangolins in Cameroon
Ichu Ichu Godwill - Cameroonian, Africa
2017 Winner | | Cameroonian
Pangolins are the only scaly mammals in the world but unfortunately, they are the most trafficked mammals the world over with over one million pangolins estimated to have been trafficked within the past decade. Pangolins are considered to be luxury meals in China and their scales are used in Asian traditional medicine thereby fuelling international trafficking from Africa to Asia. Conservation efforts to help save these species in Central Africa are hampered by lack of data on their populations, trade and strongholds. This project proposes to conduct applied pangolin research in protected areas in Cameroon suspected of having populations of pangolins. This applied research will focus on pangolin populations, bush meat trade and threats to pangolins in these protected areas. This will be accompanied by pangolin sensitization in Cameroon by way of organizing activities in collaboration with other organizations to celebrate the World Pangolin Day in the second Saturday of February.
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NOTE: This content was shared online for the 2019 cycle of the Young Champions of the Earth programme and has not been updated. This listing does not constitute any endorsement by nor status with the UN Environment Programme.
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