12 March 2025 Gustavo Fonseca scholars will become global conservation leaders

Four of Lincoln’s new Gustavo Fonseca scholarship students have arrived on campus, ready to develop their knowledge and improve conservation efforts in their home countries.

Seven students from across Asia and the Pacific have been funded to study at Lincoln University with the help of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), an organisation dedicated to supporting new conservation research, combating climate change and protecting the environment.

The scholarships – worth about $900,000 in total – are in honour of the late Dr. Gustavo Fonseca, a renowned Brazilian conservationist and former GEF Director of Programmes.  

The funding will enable four Research Master’s and three PhD students to study at the Lincoln University campus, then conduct research in their home countries. Along with financial support, the students will have opportunities for leadership development training through GEF and access to their global network of conservation professionals.

Lincoln University’s programme lead Associate Professor Stephen Espiner says the programme is an investment in the future of conservation internationally.

“We want to help develop the conservation leaders of tomorrow. We’re building something that will last generations.”

Each of the scholars will be researching different aspects of applied conservation – typically addressing an issue, opportunity or challenge relevant to their home countries. An important dimension of all the research will be developing meaningful knowledge specific to that country.

“There’s no point in having wonderful conservation science but no way of bringing the community with you. You’re much more likely to be successful in conservation if the community invests in it too.”

Scholars will conduct research in their home countries and be in direct contact with members of the GEF, meaning they’ll be fully prepared to continue their work after they finish their studies.

They’ll be engrained in an international conservation network and have a direct link to Lincoln, improving opportunities for future students and research.

“We’re contributing to a network that will shape the future of conservation management.”

As a Nepali conservationist, Pareena Khadka knew about Lincoln University long before she applied for the scholarship.

“If we trace the legacy down, most of the things that have been done in the field of conservation in Nepal can be traced back to Lincoln University,” she said.

The history runs back almost 70 years, since the first Nepali students published work at Lincoln in 1956. Since then key figures in Nepal’s conservation sector have studied at or worked with Lincoln.

Pareena is assessing the impact of climate change on the red panda, specifically in Langtang National Park. The amount of viable habitat they have is shrinking, and she needs to know how to protect and gain public support for this threatened species.

“I’ve met with people who have graduated from here, I’ve seen their work. I was confident the education here will skill me up and help me develop the expertise I need to help my community.”

To Pareena, the Gustavo Fonseca scholarship is a way to continue to the legacy of Nepali conservation and secure it for future generations.

She is excited to know the connections she builds at Lincoln will help create beneficial relationships in other parts of the world as well.

Matthew Saukuru has come to Lincoln from Fiji. He has a background in forestry studies, and has witnessed the district of Nadi become a bustling hub for tourism, sometimes at the expense of the environment. He dreams of creating protected areas of conservation in Nadi.

“We have many natural resources back in Nadi, but not the ideology to conserve them.”

There is great potential for eco-tourism, but that’s not how the industry currently see’s it, he says.

Matthew’s research will assess the effectiveness of community-based conservation strategies for forests and protected areas. He hopes his research will help shape Nadi’s future policies.

Two other scholars have arrived on campus so far.

Muhammad Waseem, of Pakistan, is researching the conservation of the Indian Pangolin in his home province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Serah Pyawa, of Papua New Guinea, is making a case study for establishing protected areas along the Kokoda Track, a 96-kilometre trail running North-East of Port Moresby.

Three more students, all of Nepal, will be arriving in the coming months.

Asmita Rawat will be researching sustainable tourism at Rara National Park.

Chungla Sherpa will be looking at helping humans and snow leopards coexist under climate change.

Pabitra Jha will be assessing the adaptation of ecosystems in Nepal’s mountain regions for the betterment of both people and the environment.