Barbary Macaque Awareness and Conservation

Dr Sian Waters

Founder, Advisor & Trustee Barbary Macaque Awareness & Conservation (UK)

Siân is from South Wales, UK and has been working with wildlife for over 40 years, mostly in primate conservation.

Siân is a biosocial conservationist specialising in the human dimension of conservation. She is a Deputy Chair of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, leading the Section on Human-Primate Interactions, a member of the Human Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence Specialist Group and a research associate in the Department of Biosciences at Swansea University, UK

Email: sianwaters@gmail.com

Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sian-Waters

Ahmed El Harrad

President Barbary Macaque Conservation in the Rif

Ahmed has been working with Sian surveying Barbary macaques since 2004. Ahmed is responsible for macaque monitoring and project logistics. He is responsible for the administration of BMCRif. Ahmed enjoys visiting schools and telling schoolchildren about Barbary macaques and was awarded Primate Education Network’s (PEN) educator of the month in 2013 for his efforts.

Haitam Skhairi

Operations and Research Manager

Haitam joined us in October 2025 as our Operations and Research Manager. Haitam is a science graduate and is currently assisting Ahmed in managing the project in Morocco. He very much enjoys the work and is working hard with the rest of the team surveying the Barbary macaques in Bouhachem forest.

Mohamed Chetuan

Project Assistant

Mohamed is our project assistant and lives in the village of Taliamine on the edge of the forest.

Mohamed has a huge knowledge of the macaque groups and where they spend their time. He calls himself the macaques’ guardian and has himself rescued an infant macaque from domestic dogs and returned it to its mother. Mohamed looks out for the macaques keeping them safe from dogs.

Ahmed Chetuan

Project Assistant & Rural Education Officer

Ahmed lives in the village of Taliamine on the edge of Bouhachem forest.  Ahmed previously worked as a shepherd and has been a key supporter of BMAC’S work since 2009.  Ahmed has played a key role in persuading the young shepherds of Taliamine to refrain from persecuting and killing macaques.  He is now able to pursue his interest in the macaques and the forest full-time an employee of BMCRif.

Hussan El Imrani

Hussan El Imrani is from the village of Lahcen in Bouhachem. Hussan has been working with the BMCRif team since 2022. Hussan also enjoys bird watching.

Lucy Radford

Volunteer

Lucy has volunteered and worked in primate conservation for over ten years, and has a particular interest in human-animal interactions and inclusive conservation initiatives.

She has an MSc in Primate Conservation from Oxford Brookes University and worked as Project Developer for Handshake Productions for two years. She has also worked for Sumatran Orangutan Society as Engagement Manager, and for the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science as Senior Research Facilitator.

Dr Tamlin Watson

Tamlin enjoys interdisciplinary working and has a background spanning zoology, animal welfare/ behaviour, wildlife conservation, human-animal interactions, and system/behaviour change. She achieved her PhD in 2025 called ‘Entanglements in liminal spaces: The shifting lifescapes of working equids and their owners’. Tamlin is particularly interested in understanding and supporting marginalised communities (including those of marginalised species) to co-create change and has worked for the last few years exploring the relationships between humans and equids at work. She has also created, developed and project manages an environmental project in her local community ‘Growing Green’, a project bringing local communities together to increase the biodiversity and wildlife value of their green spaces from parks to churches.

Tamlin is a member of the specialist team in Human Behaviour Change for Life CIC: https://hbcforlife.org/tamlin-watson-specialist-team/

Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tamlin-Watson