Cambridge don honoured for conserving crocs

via CAAI News Media

Dr Jenny Daltry receives award from Cambodian government

by Jane Ashford-Thom

Tuesday 2nd February 2010, 19:45 GMT

A Cambridge professor has been awarded a distinguished honour by the Royal Cambodian Government for fifteen years of conservation efforts in the region.

Dr Jenny Daltry, from the Cambridge-based charity Flora and Fauna International, was awarded with the Office of the Order of Samametrei, a title given to people from other countries who have helped serve the nation.

Her work with this environmental charity has been integral in the survival of the Siamese Crocodile, thought to be extinct in the wild before a handful were discovered in 2000. This breed of crocodile is now protected through the charity’s spearheading of community-based conservation programmes in the region.

The charity has also led to the protection of 1,000,000 hectares in the Cardamom Mountains; the area in which the crocodile was rediscovered.

Daltry has also worked in several programmes aimed to establish a network of Cambodian scientists, notably in creating the first Masters of Science program at the University of Phnom Penh, in which almost 150 Cambodians have enrolled.

She has also founded and edited Cambodia’s first peer-reviewed scientific journal, the Cambodian Journal of Natural History, the second issue of which has recently been published.

An FFI spokeswoman has commented that this is particuarly integral “because the Pol Pot regime largely wiped out the educated classes, the country lacks enough qualified practitioners to manage its wildlife and help it to develop sustainably.”

Daltry has commented that; “I’m overwhelmed and grateful. For a conservationist to receive this rare honour does, I think, signify the importance that Cambodia places on its wildlife, forests, and protected areas.

“Cambodia is changing fast, but economic development does not have to mean the loss of its wildlife or priceless environmental services. The achievement I feel most proud of is helping talented Cambodians, from the government ministries to the villages, to become leaders in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. I also thank my colleagues and co-workers for their tireless commitment and support for more than a decade.”

The award was presented by His Excellency Ty Sokhun, head of the Forestry Administration in Cambodia. The ceremony was also attended by the Head of the EU Delegation and the British Ambassador to Cambodia.

Flora and Fauna International, a Cambridge-based environmental charity, focus on issues such as conservation, climate change, poverty and consumption in the Third World.