On 8th March, the world celebrates International Women’s Day, a day to recognise the achievements of women globally and to commemorate the progress the Women’s Rights Movement has made over the past century.
The EDGE of Existence programme is proud to support women all over the world in conservation science and in their efforts to protect poorly-known EDGE species. This year’s new cohort includes five extraordinary women who are passionate about conservation.
Anaurora Yranzo Duque
Anaurora is a researcher at the Central University of Venezuela. She is very affected by the global decline of coral reefs and is passionate about helping to stem the decline. Her project’s aim is to understand the population status of 3 sister species of stony corals, Boulder star coral (Orbicella annularis), Mountainous star coral (Orbicella faveolata) and Star coral (Orbicella franksi) in Morrocoy National Park, Venezuela, two decades after a mass mortality event took place. It is hoped that once the status of these species is known, conservation actions can then begin.
Liliana Saboyá Acosta
Liliana is a PhD student with the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Her aim is to conserve the Columbian dwarf gecko (Lepidoblepharis miyatai), a small species endemic to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains in Columbia. Very little is known about this species and Liliana’s project aims to assess the conservation status of this species to then propose conservation measures for the future.
Eliana Montenegro
Eliana is a Communications and Research Coordinator with the Jocotoco Foundation. Eliana is eager to get started on her project to protect the Banded Ground-cuckoo (Neomorphus radiolosus), one of the rarest birds in Ecuador. She aims to discover the preferred habitat of this species in order to expand the Canade reserve in ways that will benefit it. She hopes the skills learnt as an EDGE fellow will help her become a conservation leader in order to pass on her experience to local people affected by deforestation.
Crysia Marina Rivero Hernández
Marina is studying for her Master’s degree at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. She is passionate about protecting endangered Mexican species and her EDGE fellowship is focusing on the Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii), the largest indigenous mammal in Central America. The aim of her project is to gain knowledge on the conservation status and main threats to the tapir in the Protected Area La Frailesca in order to develop a conservation strategy. Her project will be part of the tapir recovery program in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas.
Yaijaira García Feria
Yaijaira’s interests lie with the Volcano rabbit (Romerolagus diazi), one of the smallest species of rabbit in the world which is found on only four volcanos within 45 minutes of Mexico City. She has worked on multiple projects in the past on the volcano rabbit, but the main aim of her EDGE fellowship is to develop a long-term community monitoring programme for this endangered species.
Keep an eye out for more blogs and updates as their projects progress!