Executive Manager's Message

As we continue to mark the International Year of Biodiversity and the 25th Anniversary of the Conservation Leadership Programme, I am pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 Team Conservation Awards.

Following a highly competitive review and selection process, 36 award winning projects were selected from 265 applications. The CLP will be disbursing a total of $600,000 this year to teams from 23 different countries. And for the first time this year, we will be supporting conservation projects in Bangladesh, Nigeria, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

Thanks to additional support from Save Our Species (SOS), a joint initiative by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), we are able to support 8 additional projects with funding, training and ongoing support.

These teams are focusing on the most threatened of species, and their work goes beyond basic research – from conservation of the critically endangered Togo slippery frog (Conraua Derooi) in Ghana to assessing human impacts on the endangered Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica) in Bangladesh.

In the coming week, a representative from each award winning team will take part in the CLP’s two-week International Training Course followed by the International Congress for Conservation Biology, which will take place July 3 – 7 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

We are looking forward to spending the next three weeks with this year’s award winners. If you are interested in following our activities at the training and ICCB, you can do so via the CLP Facebook page.

In the meantime, enjoy reading the latest updates from current projects.

Robyn Dalzen, Executive Manager

16-18 June, 2010 The Student Conference on Conservation Science, Bangalore, India

3 – 7 July 2010 International Congress for Conservation Biology, Edmonton, Canada

19 - 23 July 2010 International Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Bali, Indonesia

12 - 18 September 2010 International Primatological Society’s XXIII Congress, Copenhagen, Denmark

18 - 29 October 2010 Convention on Biological Diversity, COP 10, Nagoya, Japan

3 – 5 November 2010 Student Conference on Conservation Science, New York, USA

Watch the 2010 CLP Video Online!

Camera Trapping—tips and images from a seasoned expert

WCS Research Fellowship Program: Deadline January 5, 2011

News from the Field

Team Awards are granted to teams of three or more individuals who are undertaking high-priority conservation projects. The awards are arranged in a tiered system to allow for progression and include the Future Conservationist Award, Conservation Follow-up Award and Conservation Leadership Award.

ASIA/PACIFIC
Bat Count Philippines (2003, 2006)
For 10 days (10-24 May 2010), Poli Cariño (Bat Count Philippines) and Bandana Aul-Arora (Action Tayam-Peh Saving the Nicobar flying fox Project), implemented CLP’s Mentoring Programme. During this exchange programme Poli arranged for Bandana to gather first hand information on the methods used by the Bat Count Philippines Team for bat conservation in the Philippines.

Conservation of Myristica swamps - the highly threatened and unique ecosystem in the Western Ghats, India (2003)
The Western Ghats, a mountain chain that runs along the west coast of India, harbors a unique ecosystem called Myristica swamps. Recently, the team has assessed the species composition and explored whether Myristica swamps shelter plant species that are useful to mankind.

Securing the Future of Asian Elephants in Manas National Park, India (2009)
In the last six months (Oct-March), this team has been busy collecting spatial data on human elephant conflict. Out of 63 villages along the national park boundary, 37 reported incidents of human-elephant conflict.

Read more about projects in Asia/Pacific...

EURASIA
Expanding protected areas in Argun Midflow and bird monitoring network in Daurai ecoregion on Russia-China-Mongolia Border (2008)
Due to the persistence of the team’s ornithologist Oleg Goroshko and the courage of local game-manager Igor Zenkov we are reporting a very important precedent: hunting of waterfowl this spring has been banned in our wetlands by Zabaikalsky Kray Governor on April 14th 2010. Oleg prepared papers, did lobbying and assisted EIA with hunting quotas with the result that no quotas are given to kill waterfowl this spring.

Read more about projects in Eurasia...

LATIN AMERICA
Conservation of the Caatinga Howler Monkey (Alouatta ululata), Brazil (2009)
The Brazilian biodiversity is poorly known. New researchers are discovering species and increasing the information about conservation issues and ecology of plants and animals in Brazil. The Caatinga Howler Monkey Conservation Project’s team has found additional evidence to the lack of knowledge of primate diversity in the region. In their last expedition to the Northern portion of State of Piauí they made the first record of a night monkey, genus Aotus, for the Caatinga Biome.

Alder Amazon Project: conservation through borders; Argentina – Bolivia (2003, 2008)
On 21 and 22 May 2010 the National workhsops for the conservation of Alder Amazon were held simultaneously in Jujuy (Argentina) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia). With the participation of different stakeholders a conservation plan for Bolivia and a conservation strategy for Argentina were developed.

Read more about projects in Latin America...

CLP Alumni: Where Are They Now?

At One with Nature - Kanchana Weerakoon

Kanchana first came across the CLP in 1997 when her undergraduate supervisor recommended her as the local counterpart to a team of UK students who travelled to Sri Lanka to conduct a CLP-funded project. The team carried out the first ever bird surveys of three wet-zone forest patches around the Sinharaja Reserve in southern Sri Lanka. This was a life-changing experience for Kanchana. “The Cambridge expedition team became like my extended family! They helped me improve my English and later recommended that I complete a degree from Colombo University and attend an Endangered Species Management course at Durrell in Jersey.” Today, Kanchana manages her own NGO called Eco-Friendly Volunteers and is a force for good in Sri Lanka.

To read more about the Kanchana and Eco-Friendly Volunteers, click here.

Final Reports

These recently concluded projects have had some exciting results. To download a pdf copy of a project report, click on the project title below to visit the relevant project page on the CLP website.

Project Websites

Check out project websites for updated news and images from award winning teams in the field: