Fanny Fernandez Melo
1955-2015

It is with great sadness that we report the death of the president and founder of Yunkawasi, engineer Fanny Fernández Melo. Her legacy has not died, it will continue now and always, for those of us who believe in the conservation of nature and sustainable development.

Biography:

Engineer Fanny Fernández Melo has promoted the care of the environment through the development of environmental education programs and material since 2002, when she participated in the Ecological Forum of Peru.  She directed the the Environmental Culture Program on the use of water in educational institutions in Lima and other regions, through interactive workshops, participation in RPP radio programs, and the organization of the First National School Contest "Myths and Legends of Water in Peru", which produced a beautiful book sponsored by the World Bank and the Ministry of Housing in 2007. This book has been distributed in various regions of the country to schoolchildren and their teachers as educational engagement material.
 
She served as the representative of the Environmentalist Networks before the Technical Committee of the Framework Agreement on Environmental Education with the Ministry of Education from August 2003 to December 2007, where she directed the Training Commission to transmit knowledge and experience to teachers in Lima and other regions on the environment and biodiversity. 

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She fostered care of the environment and biodiversity conservation at the national level through the development of workshops and conferences, recording ancestral knowledge, and other actions through the non-profit Yunkawasi. She organized and lead more than 400 workshops in rural and urban communities throughout Peru, for a wide variety of audiences, including schoolchildren, teachers, university students and community residents. She created teaching materials and specialized games to educate and build skills in relation to the care and conservation of the environment and its biodiversity. She organized the first National School Contest "Myths and Legends of Monkeys of Peru" in 2010, where she produced and distributed a beautiful book on the ancestral knowledge of the various regions of the country. Additionally, she organized the National School Contest "Knowing my forest I support its conservation" in 2012, where she produced and distributed a book that captures the knowledge the biodiversity contained in Peru's forests and legends which show the enormous concern the inhabitants have to conserve and protect their forests.

She was one of the promoters and managers of the Primatology Symposium in Peru, which has been critical in promoting the development of primatological research and student training at the national level.
 
She had an enormous capacity to build collaborations with other environmental associations, municipalities, Educational Management Units, and universities, which have sponsored the various environmental activities and books that have been developed. She presented her experiences in various Congresses of Environmental Education and other events in order to motivate the people of Peru to care for and conserve their biodiversity. She used the yellow-tailed woolly monkey, a Peruvian endemic which is critically endangered, as a flagship species for her work. 

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Distinctions received:

• Diploma of honor awarded by the World Bank and the Ministry of Housing for the organization of the First National School Contest "Myths and Legends of Water in Peru". 2007, Lima.
• SATO Award (Service through Occupation) awarded by the Rotary International Club, to outstanding people in service to their community. 2012, Lima.
• Illustrious guest of the Province of Bongara, Amazonas, for efforts for the conservation of the primates of the Amazon region. 2010, Jumbilla. 
• Lawrence Jacobsen Environmental Education Development Award. Awarded by the International Society of Primatology. 2009, Kyoto.

Presentations at selected congresses: 

• Cornejo, F.M. and Fernández-Melo F. 2012. Four years of primate conservation education in Peru. XXIV Congress of the International Primatological Society, Cancun, Mexico.
• Fernández, F. and Cornejo, F.M. 2008. Educación Ambiental para la Conservación de los Primates Peruanos. Book of Abstracts of the 1st Meeting of the Sociedad Peruana de Mastozoología Pg. 64.
• Fernandez Melo Fanny, 2007. Environmental Culture and Water use on Educational Institutions in Peru. Latin American Conference for Water Usage. LATINOSAN 2007, Cali, Colombia.

Selected educational publications:

• Fernandez-Melo F. and Cornejo, F.M (compiladoras). 2012. “Conociendo mi bosque apoyo su conservación / Knowing my forest I support its conservation”. Yunkawasi.
• Fernandez-Melo F. and Cornejo, F.M (compiladoras). 2010. “Mitos y Leyendas de Monos del Perú”. Ed. San Marcos, ISBN 978-612-302-172-6
• Fernandez, F. and Cornejo, F.M. 2008. “2009 Calendar: Monkeys of Peru”, where the winners of the 1st school drawing contest of monkeys of Peru appear. Edited and published by Yunkawasi.
• Fernández-Melo, F. 2007. “Mitos y leyendas del Agua en el Perú”. Edited and published by the World Bank.
• Fernández-Melo, F. 2006. “Las Aventuras de Gotita y sus Amigos”. Edited and published by the Ministry of Education of Peru.

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Video in honor of the memory of Engineer Fanny Fernández Melo, presented during the 1st Congress of the Peruvian Association of Primatology.