EWT Exploring Peru

Esther Matthew, the EWT’s Senior Specialist Conservation Officer, became a National Geographic Society Explorer in 2018 for her work with a scent detection dog to help conserve the Critically Endangered Riverine Rabbit. A few months ago, Esther was selected as one of three explorers to serve as a hub coordinator for the Southern Africa Hub. The hub includes all explorers form South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

As part of her new role, she received the incredible opportunity to attend a hub coordinator training workshop and Explorer Festival in Lima, Peru! Esther expressed her excitement, saying, “It was an amazing opportunity and experience I will never forget!”. This marked her first visit to South America and her attendance at an international Nat Geo Explorer Festival. The festival showcased the remarkable National Geographic explorer project in the Amazon, along with many other fascinating topics. Esther represented EWT and the Southern Africa hub at the event, where she met many explorers from around the world. She returned with more knowledge about coordinating groups and established many valuable networking contacts.
The EWT is proud to have three National Geographic Explorers on our staff. Alongside Esther, the other two explorers are Kulani Nyakane, Field Officer of our Carnivore Conservation Programme and Dr Gareth Tate, Programme Manager of the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme.