Today (1/31/2021), is 40 days Mr. Widodo has passed away. The world has lost one of the best people and a great champion for rhinos especially for Sumatran and Javan rhino. He was started to work for Javan Rhino in Ujung Kulon 1969 when he was young after finishing the Senior high school for forestry (SKMA). He started from bottom position as a ranger and he was retired as Director of Biodiversity Conservation for the Ministry of Forestry, he played a major role in establishing management practices for Indonesia’s national parks, nature and game reserves, recreation forests, and wetlands. Some people mentioned he started from corporal to general. He is one of the role models for many rangers in Indonesia especially for alumni SKMA in Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MOEF). In other words, he was a real example that can motivate many people to achieve a higher position in their career. He always says that people that can be win are the people master in the field.
He has received many awards from national and international and some of them are very prestigious because not many people in the world can get that award. For instance, he received the Sir Peter Scott Award for Conservation Merit by the Species Survival Commission of IUCN in recognition of his lifetime’s work to save the Javan and Sumatran Rhinos from extinction. Almost half of his life his dedicated to work for rhinos. He spent more than five decades fighting to protect Indonesian wildlife, particularly Sumatran and Javan rhinos. The world has lost our Guru, mentor and lovely friend and the world has lost a great champion for rhinos.
We know you are gone, we will cherish you on our memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, your spirit more present than the living man……So long Pak Widodo, Rest in Peace.
Indonesian Rhino Initiative (IRI), 2021