• Ardiantiono (University of Indonesia)
• Marsya Christyanti Sabrani (University of Indonesia)
• Cynthia Paramita (Open university/ Universitas Terbuka)

Sisil wrote to me about the event! After arriving in icey cold Garut , the team bonded by cooking together in the Salamandar Field Station simple but homely kitchen. Sisil, with our lovely project guides,  and the team then walked to the forest, where the trainees learned to use the radio telemetry equipment, GPS and special nocturnal lights. What a success it was, as they saw saw lorises walking on the water pipe and those supposedly solitary lorises soliciting play. Our disturbed forest still harbours many species, and the team also was lucky to see common palm civets, many birds, and a baby leopard cat.

The team also contributed to our ongoing conservation education efforts, including Sisil’s village English classes, which are hugely appreciated by the village children. As it was our Sisil’s birthday, they also had a lovely break with jungle baked brownies! Who says fieldwork can’t be full of sweet surprises?

As a young and passionate conservationist herself, Sisil enjoyed giving the training and sees it as a way to inspire Indonesia’s scientists and conservationists of the future!

We used this opportunity to launch our “Matt Bush Certificate in Conservation Achievement.” All volunteers participating in our programmes will now receive this certficate, named in honour of loris lover Matt Bush, who sadly passed away in 2012. His sister has donated a small honorarium to loris conservation education in his name each year on his birthday to slow loris conservation. We are all so grateful!