Meet Founder Matt Defoe

My name is Matt Defoe and I am from Burlington, Ontario.  For as long as I can remember I have always been fascinated with nature, animals and the environment.  My full time job is in the environmental field where my duties include protecting nature. During my free time you can find me on some of my favourite hiking trails trying to spot and identify a bird I have never seen before or watching deer roam through the forest.
I also love to travel and have had the good fortune to travel to Indonesia on several occasions. I have always felt welcomed in Indonesia, so welcomed that Indonesia has become my second home.

I am extremely excited and honored to be a part of the Sumatran Wildlife Sanctuary. This is an opportunity for me to combine several of my passions into one amazing worthwhile project.  Not only will I be involved in conserving a unique ecosystem but will also have the chance to protect some critically endangered animals, letting them live the life they were meant to live.  What also excites me about this project is that I get to give back to the people that have made me feel at home in Indonesia.
 

I look forward to having you join me in this journey. 

"We only have one planet and we have to care for it before it is too late" - Bear Grylls

Meet Founder Amanda-Marie Quintino

So much of my life revolves around travel. I make my living planning trips for students, which keeps me on the go via planes, trains, and automobiles. And when I'm not travelling for work, I'm putting the paycheque I've earned during all that time on the road, towards travel of my very own.

My passion for travel (and more specifically for forests and all things green), all started with my desperate search to find some direction. When I was 20, my life got a bit stormy, and I needed to take myself out of my comfort zone for a while to gain some perspective. So I packed my pack and set out to work in the small village of Garabito in Costa Rica, nestled in the rainforest. During my time there, I helped build a school for the community, waking up every day before the sun rose, mixing cement, paying bricks, sawing wood, etc. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever done and I could not be more thankful for the experience.

It is here that I fell in love with the rainforest. On my lunch breaks, I'd hike to the nearby waterfall, sit and eat my plantains and beans, and admire the beauty of this place. Not just a forest, but a haven, a sanctuary for all of its inhabitants. I have since been lucky enough to travel to many countries, but I don't just want to travel to SEE the difference, I want to travel to MAKE a difference.

My hectic work schedule just isn't conductive to me packing up, flying out somewhere, and dedicating my time to conservation projects, as much as I wish to. And with the recent passing of one of my best friends, I started to feel that storm coming in again. I lost my way for a little while, my world left spinning, longing for something to focus my energy on, something I knew he would be proud of me for. So when approached with this opportunity to help raise money to purchase land where we can create sanctuary for wildlife in Sumatra Indonesia, it seemed like the perfect fit.

So I'm on board. Let's build these animals a home they can thrive and live freely in. Giving these animals a safe place to live is the greatest gift we could give not only to this planet, but to ourselves. THIS is my passion project, an initiative I am incredibly proud of and indescribably grateful for. #CONSERVEDONTCONSUME

Meet Remi Ojo

So I decided to donate to this cause for two main reasons. The first being that one of the people behind this initiative is my best friend AMQ. EVERYTHING she invests in is fueled with a passion an energy that is often contagious, and this cause was no different. Secondly, this cause gave me an opportunity to support something bigger than myself and society. It provides a different kind of rewarding feeling to contribute to something that has an impact that resonates in more ways than we can often imagine.

THANK YOU REMI!

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Meet Kathy Diniz

I donated to the Sumatran Wildlife Sanctuary because I believe in activism and supporting initiatives that are driven to save our planet and support sustainability for our future. We need more people like you and in turn it inspires others to do the same. No initiative is too big to take on. Keep it up!

THANK YOU KATHY!

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Meet Chris Studer

I'm proud of Amanda, Danielle and the whole team. My donation is going towards an important, sustainable initiative that is going to help the animals it touches, and by extension, our planet. I'm looking forward to seeing them progress towards their goal.

THANK YOU CHRIS!

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