UAE Portrait of a Nation: The conservationist who found her calling in the wild

Ida Tillisch, head of the Emirates Wildlife Fund – World Wildlife Fund, originally did not plan to work for an environmental non-profit.

Ida Tillisch, director general of the Emirates Wildlife Fund–World Wildlife Fund. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

A walk on the wild side in Borneo proved a life-changing experience for a Danish expat who now heads an NGO dedicated to protecting the natural habitat of the UAE.

ABU DHABI // After four weeks of tracking an orang-utan family in the Sumatran jungle, Ida Tillisch wondered whether she would ever continue the business career she had planned to pursue.

She was in her twenties and well into the world of business and finance when she went on the trip that changed her life, eventually leading her to become the head of the Emirates Wildlife Fund – World Wildlife Fund (EWS-WWF).

Through her work at the non-profit organisation, Ms Tillisch helps to reduce threats to the UAE’s natural environment, from making conservation plans for sea turtles in the Gulf to reducing carbon emissions through policy work. She also runs environmental education programmes in schools.

After university in the United States, she took a “really boring” job in Denmark developing a storage system for a company. It was then that her life changed.

“One day, a friend of mine living in Singapore called to ask me if I wanted to go hiking with them on Mount Kinabalu,” she says. “My father came that day for dinner and he said, ‘Why don’t you go?’”

Ms Tillisch was surprised at the advice from her father, who had encouraged her to pursue a more conventional path, such as going abroad on a US high school exchange programme and attending one of Europe’s most competitive business schools.

So she went.

With a small suitcase and a quick call to work, she was soon en route to Borneo, summiting Malaysia’s highest peak.

The mountaineering adventure prompted her to take part in an expedition in the Sumatran jungle to follow the orang-utans. She spent the next four months travelling in Asia.

Ms Tillisch says that formative period in her life has given her a lifetime of passion in the race to preserve wild habitats and species around the world, particularly when many are threatened.

“That moment of my father encouraging me to do something completely crazy was probably the same feeling I had when I turned down a nice job opportunity and decided to work for an NGO paying a lot less,” she says.

Ms Tillisch says every day she cherishes her decision to work in the so-called “third sector”, excited to work with the EWS-WWF’s 44-person team in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah.

She has learnt the importance of happiness and cultivating a curiosity about one’s place in the world – a lesson she hopes to pass on to her eight-year-old daughter, Margaux, and six-year-old son, Axel.

“So many people come to the UAE and don’t experience the real life here. They don’t create a home for themselves,” she says.

“For me, the reason why I am so passionate about my work is because I care for the UAE as if it was my home country.” By building relationships with the local members of the EWF-WWF board, but also local friends and colleagues, the Dane says she has grown emotionally invested in the UAE, and formed an affinity to the country’s natural habitat and dedicated work ethic towards its protection.

“It’s made a huge difference to feel welcome and almost adopted. I’m lucky to have people who are willing to enlighten me and are inspiring me with a deeper understanding of the UAE history and culture and encouraging me that what I am doing for the country is important,” she says.

“Many expats live here for years and don’t have the great opportunity to experience that kind of feeling of home.”