Tomas Diagne
Laureate
The African Chelonian Institute
Founder & Director
Senegal
Rolex Awards, 1998
Tomas Diagne is an African freshwater turtle and tortoise expert who has been working to save threatened and endangered turtle species in Senegal for the past 28 years. He began rescuing endangered African spurred tortoises (Geochelone sulcata) as a teenager, and in 1992 he created S.O.S. (Save Our Sulcatas), a non-profit organization. He founded and built the Village des Tortues in Rufisque, Senegal, a sanctuary and captive breeding facilty for sulcata tortoises that now houses over 300 individuals and has re-introduced numerous others back to the wild.