The brown spider monkey and its "orchestral" Magdalena River Valley habitat in Colombia have been the focus of Dr Andrés Link's work for 20+ years. Birds, not monkeys were his original plan, he tells Kate and Edward, but the monkey's graceful movement and complex social behaviour drew him to the species whose forest habitat had become fragmented, cleared for ranching and palm oil. Reconnecting it is crucial for survival and Andrés and his team at the NGO he founded Fundación Proyecto Primates are not only winning support from local landowners, they're helping them to plant trees. It’s a project Andrés says has the potential to be replicated across Colombia, home to almost 10 percent of the world's biodiversity.

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup

Find out more and watch Andrés film here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Link

Follow us on https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/ and https://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature

For more on reconnecting habitat for tree-dwelling mammals, listen to our episode with Fernanda Abra who is building low-cost canopy bridges in the Amazon

https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Abra

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations: Emily Faccini

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a happy accident for the Javan gibbon that Rahayu Oktaviani could not find funding to study orangutans and switched to gibbons for purely practical reasons. She was hooked once she heard “the most beautiful song” of her life in the forest and is working with her team at KIARA, the NGO she founded, to make sure that it doesn’t disappear. Less than 10 percent of forests remain in Java, one of the most densely populated islands on earth. Rahayu, known as Ayu, is part of a new generation of conservationists inspired by Sir David Attenborough as well as primatologists Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas. She tells Kate and Edward that she wants to raise awareness of the Javan gibbon in the same way the legendary women helped chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans to win hearts and minds around the world.

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup

Find out more and watch Ayu’s film https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Oktaviani

Follow us on https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/ and https://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature

For more on primates, listen to our episode with Kuenzang Dorji in Bhutan who works with Gee’s Golden Langur monkeys https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Dorji

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations by Emily Faccini

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The healing powers of Nepal's orchids and yew trees have always been prized by local communities but global demand is stripping the forests of its healers. Step in Reshu Bashyal who's not only raising awareness of illegal harvesting of what she calls "the tigers of the plant world" but has a plan to protect these natural resources. Reshu tells Kate and Edward that she grew up understanding that plants are special but they did not appear to be recognized in wildlife conservation. She’s changing that. Reshu and her colleagues at NGO Greenhood Nepal want to empower forest groups, clear invasive species, plant thousands of new yews and rehabilitate fallen orchids. She’s also - crucially - working with government and forest officials to formalise a sustainable harvest and trade.

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup

Find out more and watch Reshu’s film here: https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Bashyal

Follow us on https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/ and https://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature

For more stories on Nepal, listen to our episode with Nepal’s “Owl Sir” https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Acharya

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations by Emily Faccini

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.