Cambridge, England, July 17, 2007 -- The Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) is proud to announce the winners of the 2007 Conservation Leadership Awards. This year, the Programme awarded 26 awards to research teams in 19 different countries with support totalling $502,500.
CLP, formerly known as the BP Conservation Programme, supports the vital work of a new rising generation of conservation professionals who are helping to drive practical projects addressing a wide range of global environmental issues from protecting sharks in Brazil to conservation of threatened amphibians in Colombia and endangered turtles in Cambodia to the assessment and conservation of threatened bird species in China.
“The Conservation Leadership Programme offers support to teams of emerging conservation professionals across a set of countries chosen by BP based on areas of significant business interest,” said Marianne Carter, CLP Executive Manager. “And this support allows the Programme to maximise conservation impact in these unique places around the world.”
This year’s awards were given to 26 teams in the following categories; three leadership awards, seven follow-up awards and 16 future conservationist awards. Team research specialized in amphibian, bird, fish, mammal, reptile, plant and habitat research. The annual awards aim to develop leadership potential in a new generation of conservation professionals and address global conservation priorities at a local level by assisting and encouraging teams of young people to undertake important conservation projects globally.
The winning projects are:
- Amburana Project: Determining the status of an endangered tree species: Amburana cearensis in Argentina;
- Conservation Field Training for Young Park-rangers in Argentina;
- Project Seabirds Argentina: Conservation Through Community Involvement;
- Evaluation of Important Sites for Flamingos in the Bolivian Altiplano: Raising Awareness for Wetland Conservation;
- Ecology and Conservation of a Bush Dog Population in Brazil: A Monitoring and Educational Program;
- Fernando de Noronha's Shark Project: Participative Fisheries Monitoring, Brazil;
- Araripe Manakin Wildlife Refuge, Brazil;
- Ecological Studies and Conservation Status Assessment on Two Endangered Vibrissaphora Toads in China;
- Assessment and Conservation of Threatened Bird Species at Laojunshan, Sichuan, China;
- Conservation of Threatened and Migratory Birds in the Eerguna-Midflow Transboundary Wetland, China/Russia;
- Conservation and Further Research of Distribution of the Critically Endangered Darevsky's Viper (Vipera darevskii) in Armenia;
- Programme for the Conservation of Cacti in Cuba;
- Advancing Seabird Conservation in Peru’s Artisanal Fishery Through Education and Research;
- Calayan Rail Project II: Building Stakeholder Capacity to Conserve an Island Endemic, Philippines;
- Community Driven Conservation of Cambodian Chelonians, Cambodia;
- Environmental Planning and Education Program in Cerro Verde, the First Coastal-Marine Protected Area in Uruguay;
- Monitoring and Conservation of Tibetan Antelopes and Other Mid-to-Large Mammals Along Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Highway;
- Project Atelopus: Conservation of Critically Endangered Amphibians, Colombia;
- Assessing the Current Status and Distribution of Imperial Eagle and Lesser Kestrel in Azerbaijan;
- Dracaena-MAP-Egypt: Dracaena ombet Monitoring & Assessment Project in Gabel Elba Protected Area (GEPA), Egypt;
- Refugial Forests of the Western Lesser Caucasus, Georgia;
- Survey, Conservation and Monitoring of Critically Endangered Gyps Vultures in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, India;
- Developing a Community Forest Buffer for the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary, India;
- Conservation of Herpetofauna in Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park, South Sulawesi, Indonesia;
- Status and Population Trend of Amphibians in Relation to Microenvironment at Montane Forests, Southern Mexico; and
- Improving Fledgling Recruitment and Habitat Quality for the Yellow-shouldered Parrot, Margarita Island, Venezuela.
In addition, award recipients came together to attend a series of practical training workshops in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Winners learned conservation education, communications, people-oriented research and project planning and management skills. The training assisted them in carrying out their projects and allowed them the opportunity to meet and share ideas with one another and several global conservation experts.
Awardees attended the Society for Conservation Biology’s 21st Annual Meeting in Port Elizabeth, South Africa held from July 1 to July 5, 2007. Award winning teams had the opportunity to share their initial research findings with an international audience of more than 1,500 conservation practitioners. The Society for Conservation Biology is the premier society for conservation biologists, bringing together experts from around the world.
Over its 17-year history, the Programme has supported nearly 3,000 individuals, many of whom have continued working in the fields of conservation and development. In an overwhelming number of cases, projects initiated by these individuals continue and grow from the Programme’s initial support.
For further detailed information on this year’s awardees and their conservation research projects, please visit www.conservationleadershipprogramme.org.
The Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) is a partnership between BP, BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora International, Conservation International and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The initiative has been running since 1985. The partners share a common concern for, and a commitment to, our natural environment and its constituent biodiversity. The missions of the four conservation organizations are dedicated to the notion of conserving biodiversity and supporting a sustainable relationship between people and nature. For more information about CLP, please visit www.conservationleadershipprogramme.org.