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Vodafone's World of Difference is an innovative programme
that currently operates in 17 countries across the world, with more countries
launching in 2010. To date, it has allowed over 700 individuals around
the world to work for their dream charity and be paid. Emmelianna
Bujak, who is currently with the Zoological Society of London, applied to
the competition with support from us, the IOSF, and is one of only six outright
winners out of the 2000 applicants (another 2 have gone to public vote). She
will be working for Furget-Me-Not for a year in Tonle Sap, with her salary
and expenses covered by the award.
Emmelianna has previously worked on reproduction in Eurasian otters in association with several zoological collections, and has also assisted with the Cardiff Otter Project in a study investigating whether reproductive information is communicated in otter spraint via scent.
In
Tonle Sap, Emmelianna will be helping with the educational initiatives
we have underway, and also with an exciting new addition: the
Water Hyacinth project. This is a new idea, which we are working
on with Conservation International, to make use of the fibres yielded by
the invasive
water hyacinth that is crowding out indigenous plants on the
lake. These fibres
can be used to make furniture, household accessories,
office supplies, stationary and gift items . The deal is that we will develop this product and find
outlets for sale (we already have at least one household name home furnishing
company interested), thus providing employment for local people on condition
they give up hunting. We hope the gathering, processing and manufacturing
of these wickerwork products will provide sufficient income to make hunting
less attractive, and that a long-term sustainable industry involving all
sectors of the local communities can be developed. At the same time,
the project will be removing an invasive pest species from the lake, allowing
native plants to flourish and encouraging a healthy ecosystem. The
water hyacinths also sustain an invasive snail, and our project may help
control that as well.
We are very proud of Emmelianna 's achievement and look forward
to working with her!