Jean Thomas

In 2003, Jean Thomas left her job in Australia and embarked on an adventure to Papua New Guinea. Jean works hard at the Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA) to save the Tenkile from extinction. Tenkiles are also commonly known as the Scott’s tree kangaroos. These arboreal kangaroos are indigenous to Australia and Papua New Guinea. Hunted by local communities for their meat, their numbers had decreased to around 100 individuals left in the wild. Jean designed various training programmes, to reduce the hunt on the Tenkile, while at the same time safeguarding the livelihoods of local communities. Her programmes have led to community engagement and mobilisation among 50 villages in the most remote areas of Papua New Guinea, and to the protection of 200,000 hectares of rainforest.

Background
Originally from Australia, Jean Thomas and her husband Jim worked as zookeepers at Melbourne Zoo. In 2003, they decided to leave everything else behind and move to Papua New Guinea to save the tree kangaroos, or Tenkiles, from extinction. Upon arriving in the Torricelli Mountains in Papua New Guinea, they encountered isolated, impoverished communities living off of Tenkile meat as sustenance. It was evident to them that this had to change. This was no easy job, however. Despite the hardships, they have since been working at the Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA) to improve the livelihoods of local communities in some of the remotest areas of Papua New Guinea. And saving the Tenkiles in the meantime!

Vision and Approach
Jean Thomas believes people are the key to achieving conservation. She hopes to motivate and inspire people to make changes in their behaviour, to protect species, their habitats, and their environments. The ongoing rise of the human population in Papua New Guinea resulted in a higher demand for animal protein. With limited access to food, people turned to hunting Tenkiles. This caused the Tenkile population to drop to dangerously low numbers. Jean knew that the only way to implement successful conservation strategies was to integrate and develop local communities. The TCA aims to assist these communities in managing their natural resources sustainably, whilst showing respect for their culture and customs. Jean takes a holistic approach to conservation, which uses a combination of sustainable community development, awareness, and research. She provides locals with their own homegrown, alternative protein sources and helps the communities to develop their own water and basic sanitary infrastructures. To keep the work going, Jean designed, produced and managed various training programmes, which mobilised and engaged around 50 villages. Together, they have achieved the protection of 200,000 hectares of rainforest.