Dr. Mohammad Ehsan Dulloo named new president of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation

On 1st January 2025, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation welcomed a new President following the resignation of Tim Taylor, effective on 31st December 2024. We extend our deepest gratitude to Tim for his exceptional leadership, vision, and dedication over the past decade. His contributions have been instrumental in shaping the organization, and while he steps down as President, we are pleased that he will continue to support our mission as a valued member of the Board of Directors.

At the same time, we are delighted to introduce Dr. Ehsan Dulloo as our new President. Ehsan is a highly respected figure in biodiversity conservation, bringing over 40 years of experience to the role. His impressive career spans key positions and a variety of organisations, including Senior Policy Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Plant Conservation Manager for the World Bank GEF Biodiversity Restoration Project in Mauritius with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, and Assistant Conservator of Forests in Mauritius. Additionally, he holds the title of Emeritus at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, a centre of The CGIAR, a global partnership of international agricultural research centres engaged in research on food security, where he previously served as Principal Scientist until his retirement in November 2022 and continued as an Honorary Research Fellow.

Ehsan’s legacy includes pivotal contributions such as the establishment of the Black River Gorges National Park and the National Parks and Conservation Service in Mauritius. He also played a key role in conceptualizing the World Bank award-winning “Seeds for Needs” initiative as a strategy for providing adapted local varieties enabling farmers to cope with climate change and co-leading the Agrobiodiversity Index project, which was honoured with the prestigious Food Planet Prize in 2023. His wealth of expertise and forward-thinking vision will be invaluable as we continue our mission to protect and restore Mauritius’ unique biodiversity.

Dr. Mohammad Ehsan Dulloo: “I am really honoured to occupy this prestigious position”

“I am really honoured to occupy this prestigious position. As the new President of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, I will ensure that we continue the excellent work that the foundation has been doing to protect and conserve the endemic flora and fauna of the Republic of Mauritius and to restore their native ecosystems. With the help of my fellow board members, I will bring my full support to the board council to guide the management of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF) in its work. There is certainly a lot of challenges ahead, but conservation is a long-term business that requires dedication and perseverance. MWF has certainly shown its capacity to achieve excellence in bringing back from extinction several endangered endemic fauna and the restoration of key degraded islets like Ile aux aigrettes and Round island. I believe that more can be done on the flora side particularly on safeguarding the genetic diversity of various plants populations with the creation of seed banks.”

The excellence of MWF could not have been possible without the close partnerships with other organisations both in Mauritius and abroad, particularly with the Government of Mauritius through the National Parks & Conservation Service; the Forestry Services; the Ministry of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries and the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change.

The linkages that MWF has developed over the years with international organizations such as the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Botanical Gardens Conservation International, Conservatoire Botanique National de Brest (France), Wildlife Vets International, North of England Zoological Society, the Institute of Zoology (UK) and others are primordial for its success. I will work with MWF and its partner organizations to ensure that these partnerships be further strengthen.”