AND THE GREEN OSCAR GOES TO …
(Posted 09th May 2014)
Kenya’s Shivani Bhalla and Dr. Paula Kahumbu were among the winning line up of this year’s Whitley Conservation Awards, often dubbed the Green Oscars for the scheme’s ongoing commitment to select the globally most deserving conservation project and individual for their honour list.
Last night did Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal at the Royal Geographical Society announce to a packed audience that Malaysia’s Melvin Gumal was chosen as the 2014 winner of the award, leading the announcements of 7 other contestants whose names have been put forward for the 2014 awards.
Melvin Gumal was one of eight exceptional individuals to have been awarded a share of prize funding worth £280,000 by the Whitley Fund for Nature, winning the Whitley Award for Conservation in Ape Habitats, donated by the Arcus Foundation. Dr Melvin Gumal, aged 49, has been Director of the Malaysia Programme at the Wildlife Conservation Society since 2003. Prior to that he worked with the Sarawak Forest Department for 15 years, where he initiated programmes to engage local communities with park management through eco-tourism, guiding, and developing alternative livelihood sources.
The Bornean orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus) is the last iconic large mammal left in Sarawak, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, as other large mammals including the Sumatran rhino and the Banteng, a species of wild cattle, are considered extinct, having not been scientifically recorded for more than 30 years. Today orang-utan populations are only found in two locations in Sarawak and Melvin plans to lead a team of researchers and educators to conduct a definitive orang-utans survey and undertake conservation education programmes with the local Iban communities. Working with the government to develop conservation policies and alongside other agencies such as nature travel groups will increase the likelihood that all stakeholders share a common vision to secure the future of orang-utans and their habitats.
From Kenya were Shivani and Paula in the running, now being able to receive a portion of the 280.000 UKL prize money for their projects ‘Warrior Watch’ and ‘Hands off our Elephants’.
Kenyans and in fact East Africans can be immensely proud to have had two such eminent conservationists among the eight finalists this year, a sure sign that Kenya’s conservation efforts by individuals and NGO’s have been noted by the global conservation fraternity.
Congratulations to both Shivani and Paula for this outstanding accomplishment.
Other 2014 winners were listed by the Whitley Awards as:
- Tess Gatan-Balbas – Taking local action to save the world’s rarest crocodile in the Philippines, Whitley Award donated by WWF-UK
- Monica Gonzalez – Community conservation of the long-wattled umbrellabird and its disappearing habitat in Ecuador, Whitley Award donated by Sarah Chenevix-Trench
- Fitry Pakiding – Uniting coastal communities to secure the last stronghold of Pacific leatherback turtles in the Bird’s Head Seascape, West Papua, Indonesia, Whitley Award donated by The Shears Foundation
- Stoycho Stoychev – The Imperial Eagle as a flagship for conserving the wild grasslands of south-eastern Bulgaria, Whitley Award donated by Fondation Segré
- Luis Torres -Building a national movement to protect Cuba’s amazing plant life, Whitley Award donated by The William Brake Charitable Trust in memory of William Brake
