Excerpt from news.mongabay.com
Conservation biologist Estrela Matilde has won the 2022 Whitley Award for her work to save sea turtles on the island of Príncipe in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea.
The awards, often referred to as the “Green Oscars,” are given annually by U.K.-based wildlife conservation charity Whitley Fund for Nature, recognizing conservationists from around the world who are pioneering solutions to the biodiversity crisis.
Matilde, though her NGO Fundação Príncipe, based in Príncipe — the smaller of the two islands that make up the tiny nation of São Tomé and Príncipe — has been working since 2015 to conserve the island’s biodiversity by working with the local community to develop alternative livelihoods that reduce pressure on resources and protect wildlife.
Recently, her attention has turned to documenting and tackling plastic pollution, after a conservation initiative that put cameras on sea turtles revealed just how much plastic Príncipe’s marine life encounters.
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