In early April the Conservation Leadership Programme announced the winners of its 2016 Team Awards, which will provide crucial support for 18 teams of early-career conservationists undertaking high-priority projects on globally threatened species. The award winners will benefit from project funding worth a combined total of USD 262,650, participation by one team member in the Programme's renowned international training course, long-term mentoring from experts within the conservation sector and inclusion in a global network of Programme alumni. The network provides award winners with access to travel grants, learning resources, tools and collective experience—facilitated through peer-to-peer support—that is invaluable in helping winners to carry out research and implement conservation projects in demanding environments and to develop professionally.
This year's winning projects include several that focus on Critically Endangered and relatively neglected species, such as the painted batagur, Baer's pochard, vultures in India, and endemic amphibians in Mexico and China. Other threatened species and habitats that will benefit from research and practical conservation action include marine mammals in Malaysia, wetland-dependent flora in South Africa, the wildlife of Angola's national parks, avian hotspots in India, and migratory raptors in Georgia.
Generous support from the Arcadia Fund has enabled the Programme to provide two additional Future Conservationist Awards specifically allocated to teams undertaking marine conservation projects. One of these teams will conduct the first surveys of mesophotic coral ecosystems in a crucial Mexican section of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. The other will monitor and contribute to conservation strategies for the elusive and increasingly threatened dugong in Quirimbas National Park, a remote haven of biodiversity in northern Mozambique.
To view a full list of funded projects visit www.conservationleadershipprogramme.org/our-projects/latest-projects-2016/
CLP was initiated in 1985 and is a partnership between BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora International and the Wildlife Conservation Society. See p. XXX for the call for applications for the 2017 awards.
