Rob Wallace: Protecting Latin America’s Biodiversity
By John Robinson | October 17, 2019
WCS’s Dr. Rob Wallace, based in La Paz, Bolivia, has been honored by the IUCN for his more than 20 years of innovative conservation and science to protect Latin America’s biodiversity. Wallace received the Kenton Miller Award during the IUCN III Latin American and Caribbean Congress of Protected Areas held Oct. 14–17 in Peru.
The award is given annually by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) World Commission on Protected Areas. Wallace serves as Director of the Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Conservation Program of WCS in Bolivia.
Rob has addressed saving wildlife and wild places from all angles — as a scientist, discoverer, explorer, community organizer, and innovator. He is a wonderful deserving recipient of an award that honors one of the founders of modern conservation. The award recognizes his exceptional efforts to protect and conserve Bolivia’s natural heritage.
“Dr. Rob Wallace addresses saving wildlife and wild places from all angles — as a scientist, discoverer, explorer, community organizer, and innovator.”
Rob is a quintessential field naturalist. The new species that he has described include the Madidi titi monkey, and he has studied the behavior and ecology of a long list of Latin American wildlife including spider monkeys, jaguars, Andean bears, Andean condors, giant otters, ungulates and primates.
Rob has been a leader in establishing participatory conservation efforts and enlisting local communities as fellow champions of the wild. His early successes in promoting conservation in the Greater Madidi-Tambopata landscape were amplified recently in the remarkable Identidad Madidi, which engaged more than 50,000 Bolivians in actions to protect their nation’s Madidi National Park.
His leadership in a new Bolivian gastronomic movement, Sabores Silvestres, which supports conservation through the use of Bolivia’s culinary tradition and the biodiversity, helped establish a connection between cities in Bolivia and the country’s nature.
All of WCS extends congratulations to Rob. It’s great scientists like him who have made WCS a powerful force in wildlife conservation for 125 years.
Dr. John Robinson is Executive Vice President for Conservation and Science at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society).
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For more information, follow these links to the Lima conference event and the Kenton Miller awards.
