Irhamna Putri Rahmawati (IRNA)
About yourself
I currently work as a secretary of Yayasan Konservasi Alam Yogyakarta which is a parent organisation of Wildlife Rescue Centre (WRC) Jogja with the main responsibility to planning and seeking funding for the operational cost of WRC. In addition to that, I also play a role as a conservation programme supervisor with responsibility to planning and supervise the overall conservation programme of the centre.
Which ASAP species you are working to conserve, and can you tell us a little about your work?
As a wildlife rescue facility, we aim to care for the confiscated/trafficked animals temporarily before transferring them to other ex-situ facilities such as rehabilitation center, zoo, or sanctuary. However, when it is possible, we do release the wild animals back to their habitat. Currently we work with the Borneo orangutan, yellow-crested cockatoos, and the Malayan Giant Turtle. The main programme for orangutan is daily care for future translocation to the orangutan rehabilitation facilities. We partner with several orangutan rehabilitation facilities in Kalimantan for this translocation programme. Likewise, translocation programme for eventual release or breeding is applied for the yellow-crested cockatoo. We partner with other wildlife rescue centres which have a rehabilitation, release and/or breeding programme for cockatoo. While the main program for the Malayan Giant Turtle is to establish the assurance colony for reintroduction. In pursuing this, we collaborate with other organization such as Gembira Loka Zoo and KONKLUSI which is also a member of ASAP Partners.
What/Who inspired you to start a career in conservation?
The idea to becoming conservationists was never exist until I reached the 1st year of the veterinary study. At that time, I was given the opportunity to choose the study club I am interested with. Randomly, I chose the wildlife study club just because there’s a few people interested in that club. So I felt challenged and anti-mainstream (which I thought this would lead me to more lucky things) by joining in that organization. Turned out, I enjoyed the whole wildlife learning session and felt inspired by conservation role model like Jane Goodall who is famous for her saying “the very least we can do is to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves”. Since then, I felt like conservation is already in my blood. My passion to equip myself with knowledge about wildlife conservation led to apply for post-graduate program in wildlife health and conservation before dive into the conservation work as my future career.
How do you think the ASAP Women in Conservation Leadership Programme will help you in carrying out your work?
I believe that the knowledge and experiences I receive from the Women in Conservation Leadership Programme will enlighten my career, sooner or later. The materials, discussion, and skills given during the training are those that my organization currently needs. I could not believe that I am finally able to design a project comprehensively with the team, although there is still much to learn and improve. The training programme also provide an opportunity to connect with many other amazing woman conservationists which indeed is very beneficial to support my professional career as well as my organization in pursuing and carrying out our mission to conserve ASAP species specifically and other wildlife generally.