BEYOND RESCUE: Life on the Frontlines of Primate Conservation

Following the recent passing of the trailblazing primatologists Jane Goodall and Birutė Galdikas, I wondered who would carry their conservation legacy forward. What does conservation work even look like today, in such an environmentally threatened world?

As I read more, I was immediately struck by the sheer number of women shaping the future of primatology today. And I found it interesting how, amid the environmental crises of our time, their work is increasingly unfolding at the intersection of wildlife protection, ecological survival, and community wellbeing.

I decided I wanted to meet one of these women. So I travelled to Ketapang, in West Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, to spend time with Spanish primatologist and wildlife veterinarian Karmele Llano Sánchez, co-founder of the non-profit organisation Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI).

In the shrinking rainforests of Borneo, Sánchez has spent two decades rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing orangutans--among the most critically endangered primates in the world--who have been victims in the crossfire of deforestation, the illegal wildlife trade, and the rapid expansion of palm oil plantations.

But Sánchez realised early on that conservation cannot succeed in isolation. Protecting orangutans and other wildlife also means protecting the forests they depend on, and the communities who live alongside them. As a result, her work has expanded far beyond animal rescue into community-led conservation: supporting sustainable livelihoods, spreading awareness, restoring degraded forests, and even forming an all-women volunteer firefighting group called 'The Power of Mama, ' which helps tackle the region's worsening wildfires.

This story aims to depict what conservation work really looks like today--not as a faraway concept, but as daily, complicated labour that often requires constant improvisation in the face of climate change, accelerating biodiversity loss, deforestation and human-wildlife conflict.