Hello everyone – I hope you are all continuing to stay safe, healthy and happy! We have just completed our OVAG Workshop over zoom and have had our largest turnout ever with 114 participants on the first day. Naturally the main area of interest was the pandemic as sadly it is still an ever-present danger in Southeast Asia, so much of the 5 days dealt with COVID issues. However, we still had time for our usual follow ups from past workshops such as respiratory ailments, nutrition, welfare, case studies and a new and very important topic – that of mental health and care giver/conservation worker fatigue. Everyone was really interested in discussing this as it truly affects us all. Especially for our veterinarians who sometimes feel as if they are carrying the weight of saving an entire species on their shoulders. We will continue to address this and all our topics throughout the year, because even though we get ‘together’ once a year – we remain active and in contact with each other weekly and even sometimes daily – our work never stops! We keep an active and informative WhatsApp group that allows anyone who has attended an OVAG workshop or is involved in SE Asian primate conservation a way to connect with us for support, help, or just to connect for a quick hello. We have a separate OVAG Committee WhatsApp group to allow us to continue working with anyone who might have a need as well as planning for OVAG 2022 – which just might be able to be held face to face! Fingers crossed…..
Here are some Zoom photos….Enjoy and thank you for all you do for OC and orangutan conservation.
Warmest regards,
Raffaella Commitante, President
