Kathy MacKinnon Obituary, death – Dr. Kathy MacKinnon, a member of the CTC’s scientific advisory board, passed away on Saturday, March 18, 2023, at a hospital in the United Kingdom. The news of her passing has left us in a state of profound grief. Our hearts go out to her family during this difficult time. Dr. MacKinnon is a zoologist who received his training at Oxford University. He served as the Head of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WPCA), which is regarded as the greatest global network of protected area specialists. She had more than 30 years of experience working on conservation projects all over the world, including ten years in Indonesia, where she did research on tropical ecology as well as the management and planning of protected areas. She also earned a Ph.D. in tropical ecology.

The Wildlife of Indonesia and The Ecology of Kalimantan: Indonesia Borneo were two of Kathy’s well-known works that she penned as an author. She served as a role model and source of motivation for many of us in Indonesia to pursue a career in environmental protection. Rili Djohani, the Executive Director of the CTC, reflected on the following: “When I first started my work as a conservation officer in the late eighties, it was such a thrill to go out into the field with Kathy. I will never forget her passion for the outdoors, her extensive knowledge, and her dedication to the cause of conservation, but above all, our friendship.

Throughout the course of her illustrious career, she worked on projects to strengthen biodiversity conservation and natural resource management in Africa, Asia, Central and Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. Some of the projects she worked on included providing support for protected areas and mainstreaming biodiversity conservation into development programs. As part of the worldwide effort to protect the environment and promote sustainable development, her leadership within WCPA has been instrumental in assisting countries in meeting the Aichi biodiversity targets that they set for 2020.

She has considerable experience working with both international and national non-governmental organizations devoted to environmental protection, in addition to government agencies in developing nations. She is the author of over one hundred scientific books and publications, the most recent of which advocate for protected areas as tried and true natural solutions that can assist civilizations in coping with the effects of climate change. In addition to her work with the WCPA, she is also a member of the Board of Directors for Botanic Gardens Conservation International. She was presented with the Outstanding Service Award by the Society of Conservation Biology in 2007, and in 2018, she was given the Midori Prize for Biodiversity, which is regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in the field of conservation.