We are all proud that the founder of the Masarang Foundation as well as the Sintang Orangutan Centre (SOC) and the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS), Dr Willie Smits, was honoured with a BAMBI award award on November 21st, in Germany.
Dr Willie Smits and Adrienne Watson Smits (Photo: Zimbio.com)
The BAMBI event was broadcast live and is awarded to those who are considered to ‘move us all’. The award highlights “the things that are important (in and for Germany), and the things that-from a Germany perspective- are important for the world as a whole”. Willie is honoured to receive the award in the category of ‘Our Earth’ and he is extremely grateful for all the support from Germany. With an audience of approximately 4 million, we all hope that the BAMBI event will highlight work being done by the projects and that Willie, the volunteers and supporters, not only in Germany but also around the world will receive even more support. We are very pleased that the German language Masarang website, created and filled with a treasure of professionally in German translated articles by Dr. Gertrud Schuster and presently hosted by volunteer Björn Steinmetz, got more than 27.000 hits in the day after the event!
Willie and I are most grateful to Mr Frank Elstner, who himself won a second BAMBI for his lifetime achievements as shown in the picture below. We are also very grateful to the publisher Dr. Hubert Burda, the award sponsor, and all those in Germany doing wonderful work to support Willie’s projects and Nature. During his acceptance speech Willie specifically mentiond several German groups such as Karlsruhe Zoo, Benni Over, Lebensraum Regenwald and BOS Germany.
Willie and Frank Elstner with their Bambi Awards
Another donation from Karlsruhe Zoo, handed over by Dr. Matthias Reinschmidt and Dr. Clemens Becker, for the Sintang Orangutan Centre in Kalimantan. On the right the wonderful Timo Deibl, also from Karlsruhe Zoo, who waited outside the Bambi event in minus degrees for hours until we were allowed to invite him in for his newsletter!
Together with Benni, Connie and Klaus Over. Benni proudly showing the cheque for
25.000 € that he raised to support the Temboan Masarang reforestation project.
Meeting our friends and long-term supporters from Lebensraum Regenwald before the Bambi Award ceremony
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