Aisha HAMERA

Hamera Aisha, with an Erasmus-funded Master's in Applied Ecology, has dedicated 15 years to Pakistani wildlife conservation, focusing on combating wildlife crimes, especially with freshwater turtles. Currently WWF-Pakistan's Senior Manager of Wildlife Conservation, she designs and leads projects to safeguard dwindling wildlife and habitats. Her work reaches beyond conservation, addressing root causes of poverty by authoring national action plans against illegal wildlife trade, including those for Indian pangolins and freshwater turtles. Her milestone includes executing Pakistan's first-ever wildlife crime market assessment and informing anti-poaching efforts. Leading Indus River dolphin conservation, she covers Pakistan's freshwater turtle hotspots, severely threatened by poaching and illegal trade along the Indus River.

Her approach combines research, in-situ conservation, and collaboration, focusing on species like freshwater turtles, Indian pangolins, and snow leopards. Her diverse experience encompasses field studies, lobbying, research for policy-making, capacity building, grassroots partnerships, and insights into trade dynamics, species ecology, and trafficking hotspots.

Hamera integrates social and technological aspects into her work, initiated a project assessing gender-specific roles and vulnerabilities in turtle poaching communities, and developed strategies for two poaching-affected freshwater habitats. Her outreach extends to training customs and law enforcement on CITES and wildlife crimes, contributing significantly to UNODC Pakistan and supporting wildlife rangers.