Protecting Malaysia’s amazing natural heritage to save endangered animals

Malaysianwildlife.org was born from a love for Malaysia’s amazing natural heritage. Our founder Barbara de Waard was enchanted by the natural beauty and diversity while living here. But she was also worried by the many threats witnessed at first hand such as deforestation and poaching. So she started helping out local NGOs involved in conservation and animal rescue.

Eventually, Barbara decided to dedicate the rest of her life to saving wildlife. First, she enrolled in a Masters in non-profit management and carried out academic and field research to find solutions.These are focused on innovation and partnership: not only in conservation, but also with stakeholders such as business, local communities and policymakers. Then she set up a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to saving endangered animals and their habitats: Biodiversity Business.   The aim is to Create Shared Value for Nature and People. Because people are the key to most of the problems facing these precious animals and ecosystems.

Each volunteer can make a difference that can lead to positive change

Responsible volunteering is a win-win opportunity for conservation. On the one hand, wildlife projects can generate income to sustain their important work. That is why a fee is charged to cover real costs plus a contribution to the project itself. On the other hand, volunteers can fulfil their dreams by helping to save endangered animals. Many of our volunteers mention their life-changing experiences after they have worked at our projects. From their animal encounters, they find true inspiration to enrich their lives, personally or as a career.

To sum up, the positive result is that meaningful conservation work can be sustained. Especially, since these projects often get little or no funding from other sources. Additionally, each volunteer contributes to a change in behaviour and consumption for a more sustainable planet. You can become an ambassador for these animals and their survival.

Our partnerships provide ethical volunteering options for you

Collaboration and partnership is fundamental to our work. In short, we are proud to be partners with carefully selected wildlife projects and conservation groups. We work with these partners because they share our values for ethical volunteering  for conservation and rescued animals. Moreover, our goal is to uphold these high standards for wildlife rescue and rehabilitation which we call R.E.S.T for animals: R = Rehabilitation & Release, E = Enclosure and Enrichment, S = Specialist and Science-based, T = Transparent and Trustworthy