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April offered a powerful reminder that effective conservation is never just about species or habitats in isolation—it is about people, place, and the stories that bind them together. From cultural events and training sessions to holiday celebrations and field practice, the month was full of meaningful experiences for the Wildlife Rescue Centre Jogja (WRC Jogja) and Yayasan Konservasi Alam Yogyakarta (YKAY).
We began with celebrating Idul Fitri alongside our wider YKAY-WRC family. After reconnecting over shared meals, Foundation Treasurer Lorens Hardi Pranoto led an enrichment session on Systems Thinking. By mapping feedback loops and leverage points within our programmes, we saw how welfare, finance, infrastructure, and community relations interlock. The exercise set a reflective tone for the month ahead.
On 12–13 April, Tepas Tanda Yekti Kraton Ngayogyakarta hosted the International Symposium on Javanese Culture 2025 under the theme ‘Apparatus at the Sultanate of Yogyakarta.’ WRC Jogja team members attended the symposium, which featured presentations on Javanese cosmology, rituals, and environmental ethics. For our team—committed to ‘localizing’ conservation in Yogyakarta—these insights underscored the value of embedding cultural wisdom into modern strategies.
Later in the month (22 & 27 April), WRC Jogja joined the 17th National Seminar of Penggalang Herpetologi Indonesia (PHI) at UGM’s Biology Auditorium, themed “Past, Present, Future.” We presented “An Anthropological Approach to Herpetofauna Conservation—Field Lessons from the Tebat Rasau Community in Protecting the Malayan Giant Turtle (Orlitia borneensis) Habitat on the Lenggang River, East Belitung.” From colonial-era species records to today’s battles against habitat loss and illegal trade, the sessions affirmed that science and culture must align if threatened reptiles and amphibians are to survive.
One staff member (Erlinda) also took part in a three-day online Behaviour Change training by RARE, learning how to design campaigns that influence human actions for the benefit of wildlife. In preparation for our genetic-mapping project of Orlitia borneensis, supported by Nordens Ark, our team—alongside partners from Konklusi and Gembira Loka Zoo—conducted on-site drills to practice blood-sampling techniques. We also shared our field experiences at the international level, with one team member – Irna speaking at the IUCN IdSSG webinar on “Collaborative Action for Malayan Giant Turtle Conservation.” A photoshoot with Australian Volunteers helped capture the faces behind our mission, while community continued to be a central theme as we joined regular online catch-ups with the ASAP NOW Collective and attended the Jogja Wildlife Conservation Forum’s gathering—a meaningful gathering that reminded us how peer support drives lasting conservation impact.
