From advisor Heidi Riddle
Wahdi and I were originally invited to the US for an AZA Asian Elephant SAFE meeting in Columbus on Feb -5-6. On February 7 we flew to DC from Columbus. We went to the USFWS office where Wahdi gave a presentation to USFWS staff from the Division of International Conservation about the project "Aceh Sustainable Development Caucus" which is funded though the grant to AES that we call Mentor. The proper name of that grant is: "An innovative partnership for human-elephant conflict and forest conservation in Sumatra." On February, 8th we were invited by the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF) to visit their main office in Georgetown where Wahdi gave a presentation about the Aceh Sustainable Development Caucus. The ICCF staff was very impressed. They plan to initiate an Oceans Caucus in Indonesia and will stay in touch with Wahdi. Wahdi left for Indonesia early the morning of February, 9th. Overall the short trip was very worthwhile as both USFWS and ICCF were pleased to hear about the Aceh Caucus and the efforts though Wahdi's work to target legislators about conservation issues.