Tomas Diagne is a Senegalese biologist and activist, known for his efforts toward the conservation of turtles in Africa. He is the founder of the African Chelonian Institute, whose purpose is "to promote the long-term conservation of turtle, tortoise and terrapin populations across the African continent".

Biography

Diagne was born in a family that had military and civil experience, but little interest in wildlife; a love of animals helped make him a conservationist. In the late 1990s, he chaired the African chapter of the

Turtle Survival Alliance Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

. An early major project (for which he was given a

Rolex Award Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex ...

) was setting up a center in Noflaye to protect Senegal's endangered tortoises. At the center (which he founded with his cousin Lamine), called the ''Village des Tortues'', captured tortoises (especially the

African spurred tortoise The African spurred tortoise (''Centrochelys sulcata''), also called the sulcata tortoise, is an endangered species of tortoise inhabiting the southern edge of the Sahara, Sahara Desert, the Sahel, in Africa. It is the largest mainland species o ...

) are bred; he started it when he was 23. Diagne aimed to fill what he saw as a kind of void: people cared about larger animals, but less about reptiles like turtles and tortoises which, he said, fulfill important ecological functions, including the dissemination of tree seeds, the maintenance of

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...

s, and the providing of food for other animals by way of the many eggs they lay and the hatchlings that come from them. One of the threatened turtles Diagne studies is the

Nubian flapshell turtle The Nubian flapshell turtle or Nubian soft-shelled turtle (''Cyclanorbis elegans'') is one of two species of softshell turtle in the genus ''Cyclanorbis'' of the Trionychidae family. It is thought to have ranged from West Africa east through Cent ...

. When he was told of a carcass of that animal, he drove across America's East Coast to retrieve it; he buried it in his wife's backyard and three months later had it cleaned out so he could display the skeleton at the African Chelonian Institute in Senegal, which he founded in 2009. He said, at the time, it might be the last example of the species.

Awards

In 1998, Diagne was awarded the

for his "pioneering conservation work". In 2019, the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

gave him the Buffet Award for Leadership in Conservation in Africa. That same year, he received the Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa, which was given to him by

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his pat ...

along with US $26,000, which Diagne was going to give to the Chelonian Institute.

Personal life

Diagne is married to Lucy Keith-Diagne, a biologist who studies

manatee Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...

s; she and Tomas co-founded the African Aquatic Conservation Fund in Senegal, which Lucy directs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diagne, Tomas Living people Senegalese activists Senegalese scientists Year of birth missing (living people)