Malcolm Wilson

Malcolm Wilson is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of YAPPENDA (Yayasan Pelayanan Papua Nenda), an Indigenous-led conservation organisation working across Tanah Papua to strengthen biodiversity conservation, Indigenous leadership, and community-based landscape governance. Raised among the Yali people in Papua, Malcolm brings more than 25 years of leadership, investigation, and strategic planning experience, having served with both municipal and federal police in Canada before dedicating himself full-time to conservation and community development in Papua. He now leads YAPPENDA's partnerships with Indigenous communities, government agencies, universities, and international conservation organisations.

His work focuses on developing Indigenous-led models of conservation that integrate biodiversity research, customary land rights (Hutan Adat), scientific capacity building, and sustainable community development. Malcolm has helped establish collaborative partnerships with Biome Conservation, Re:wild, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the University of Oxford, BRIN, BBKSDA, and numerous Indonesian universities. He is passionate about developing the next generation of Indigenous Papuan conservation leaders and strengthening local scientific leadership across Papua.