LONDON (KGTV) - Dr. Ekwoge Abwe, a research conservationist from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, was honored this week with a Tusk Award for his lifetime of work to protect animals and the habitat in Cameroon's Ebo Forest.
Making the moment even more memorable, Prince William personally presented the award to Dr. Abwe at the ceremony.
"It was so, so, so, so heartwarming," Dr. Abwe said of meeting the Prince and speaking with him for nearly an hour.
For the last 20 years, Dr. Abwe has been working at a San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance research hub in Africa, focusing primarily on the Ebo forest and the animals that call it home. During that time, he's credited with a handful of major accomplishments. He was the first scientist to observe chimpanzees in the area using rocks as hammers to open nuts. He also helped bring together communities and tribes from both sides of the forest to work towards conservation, despite generations of conflict between the people.
"We need to preserve this natural beauty," Dr. Abwe says of Ebo. "So I brokered a sort of deal between these communities, you know. Like, you need to sit together to talk conservation, because you have a shared resource which is called the Ebo forest. You have this history which you have to put (aside) and work together. And these people today, you know, work together."
Dr. Abwe also worked to end government-sponsored logging in the region.
The award comes with a cash prize, which Dr. Abwe says he'll use to further his conservation efforts.
He hopes his work can be an example for others to protect the planet and work towards creating a healthy environment for every living being on Earth.
"The trend in the world today is that we're losing forests. We're losing wildlife. That's the big crisis. The only way we can reserve that reverse that is actually investing in protecting these habitats and wildlife where they are," Dr. Abwe says.
"I think we actually stand in a position where the world is, you know, moving more and more towards self destruction. And that is caused by humans... You need to change the way you do. Because, if not, we are heading for this catastrophe. So we should use our different abilities to change the way humans are living on earth to make a huge difference for not just us but the generations to come."
Abwe credits the help of the SDZWA as pivotal towards his research and success. He says the organization, and the people who support it by going to the Zoo and the Safari Park, are climate change heroes.
"What people are doing in San Diego and in America to support the zoo, has been transformed, across the world, to conserve these animals, this wildlife, in their natural habitats."
