Whitley Fund for Nature announces Gold Award shortlist

This year's search for the world's most inspirational conservation leaders steps up today with the publication of the Whitley Awards 2009 short-list
By: Whitley Fund for Nature
 
April 26, 2009 - PRLog -- The quest to find the next winner of one of the world’s most prestigious conservation prizes entered its final stages today when The Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) announced the short-list for its Whitley Gold Award 2009.

The list reveals that seven men and women - from Bulgaria, India, Kenya, Mali, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uganda –  remain in the running for the UK-based charity’s top award and £60,000 project funding. They are:  

Prithiviraj ‘Pruthu’ Fernando (Sri Lanka), head of the Centre for Conservation and Research, Colombo, who is working to safeguard wild Asian elephants by balancing their need to range outside of tight ‘protected zones’ with the needs of paddy farmers whose lives can be devastated by a single crop raid.

Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka (Uganda), a vet, working in Uganda’s remote Bwindi region, to protect mountain gorillas and improve the lives of neighbouring communities, by encouraging health and hygiene measures that will reduce the risk of cross-infections, and enable local people to benefit from gorilla tourism without harm to the apes.

M. D. ‘Madhu’ Madhusudan (India), Director of the Nature Conservation Foundation, who is working to reduce conflict between people and wildlife, including tigers, in the Western Ghats, the world’s most densely populated biodiversity hotspot, by showing farmers how to reduce crop raids, improve their incomes and avoid park encroachment.

Dino Martins (Kenya), of the centenary-celebrating East Africa Natural History Society, who is working  in the Great Rift Valley and Taita Hills to improve local understanding of the vital role insects play in crop pollination and aid biodiversity by encouraging more sustainable methods of agriculture.

Bourama Niagate (Mali), president of AMEPANE, is striving to protect biodiversity, including chimps,  in Bafing - an area ravaged by a giant dam, deforestation, demand for bushmeat, bushfires and poaching, and which ranks as one of the poorest parts of a country which is itself the fourth poorest in the world.

Jittin Ritthirat (Thailand), a development scientist, who is working   in Salakpra (a backdrop for the De Niro film, The Deer Hunter) to reduce conflicts between people, wild elephants and cattle over access to water and grazing, and restore Thailand’s oldest nature reserve as a national treasure, tourist magnet and example to others.

Emil Todorov (Bulgaria) is the leader of a Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds initiative seeking to safeguard the many thousands of wild migratory and breeding birds that depend on the river Danube and its wetlands, including by influencing planners and by recruiting local people as guardians.

Each finalist now faces an interview with an expert panel of judges in London in May, after which the jurors will select this year’s Whitley Gold Award winner, and confer other Whitley Awards worth a total of more than  £200,000. The results will be announced during a gala ceremony, hosted by wildlife tv presenter Kate Humble, at the Royal Geographical Society, London SW7 2AR, on Wednesday 13 May (7pm start) at which WFN’s Patron, HRH The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) will present the prizes

WFN Director Georgina Domberger, says: “What makes the Whitley Awards special is that they focus on conservation success stories, where genuine benefits for wildlife and people are being achieved by emerging conservation leaders in parts of the world where extreme disadvantage is part of everyday life. Just being nominated requires inspirational exceptional qualities of leadership, academic excellence and huge determination to achieve positive conservation results, often in very challenging locations and circumstances. They are also a salute to the many ordinary people who are working with our finalists to safeguard species and habitats. Their willingness to be good neighbours to nature, despite life’s hardships, is testimony that it is within the power of all of  us to find ways for people and wildlife to co-exist.”

The Whitley Awards scheme is an annual competition, now in its 16th year. This year, it attracted over 100 entries from conservation leaders from around the world.  To learn more about the charity and its awards, please see: www.whitleyaward.org.

# # #

The Whitley Fund for Nature is a UK-based charity working internationally to encourage and support science-backed nature conservation work. For more information, please see: www.whitleyaward.org
End
Source:Whitley Fund for Nature
Email:***@whitleyaward.org
Zip:W11 4SA
Tags:Conservation, Wildlife, Bulgaria, India, Kenya, Mali, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, Whitley
Industry:Environment, Science
Location:England
PBPR Ltd PRs
Trending News
Most Viewed
Top Daily News



Like PRLog?
9K2K1K
Click to Share