The Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) has announced its 2026 Future Conservationist Awards: 13 vital conservation projects taking place in 12 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America & the Caribbean.
Below we learn more about the six projects and teams (comprising 22 early-career conservationists) CLP is supporting this year in Asia.
“Through CLP, we will build the skills, partnerships, and evidence needed to ensure that even the least-known species have a chance to be conserved.” – Puji Lestari, 2026 CLP Project Leader, Indonesia
Saving the hump-backed mahseer through community participation in Kerala, India: By working with local fishers and Indigenous communities around the upper catchment of the Kabini River in Kerala, the team will uncover baseline information about the Critically Endangered hump-backed mahseer and use this information to develop a long-term conservation plan for both the species and its threatened riparian habitats.
 Project leader Dencin Rons Thampy with a hump-backed mahseer © Agin George Kurian | Despite being one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, weighing up to 65 kilograms [about the global average weight of an adult person], and very famous among angling groups, the hump-backed mahseer did not have a scientific name for over 145 years after it was first documented, earning it the title of a ‘taxonomic ghost’. |
The biggest challenge faced by the team is finding the species in the wild. Project leader, Dencin Rons Thampy, said, “Finding the hump-backed mahseer requires painstaking field surveys in very challenging landscapes, including the risk of encountering dangerous animals like tigers and elephants, and experiencing extreme weather events.”
Find out more and watch the project video here.
Extinction risk and conservation of horseshoe crabs in coastal Bangladesh: Horseshoe crabs in coastal Bangladesh are globally threatened yet little is known about their population size, distribution, or critical habitats.
 The mangrove horseshoe crab is classified as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List © ABR Lab (image edited for presentation) | “Horseshoe crabs have survived for more than 450 million years, even outliving the dinosaurs, yet today they face increasing extinction risks because of habitat loss and human activities. Bangladesh remains one of the least-studied parts of their global range, making this project one of the first comprehensive conservation assessments in the country.” – Mohammad Rakibul Hoque, Project Leader |
This project will conduct field surveys, mark–recapture studies, habitat mapping, and community engagement to generate the first robust baseline information – including key threats and priority conservation sites. The results will directly support long-term conservation planning and improve protection for these ancient marine species.
“By combining scientific research with local knowledge, we hope to create practical conservation actions that will continue long after the project ends.”
Safeguarding a Critically Endangered damselfly in Nusakambangan Island, Indonesia: This project is working to secure the future of the Javan shadowdamsel- a globally threatened damselfly found only on Nusakambangan Island in Indonesia.
 The Critically Endangered Javan shadowdamsel Coeliccia lieftincki (male) © Hening Triandika Rachman | “Finding Coeliccia lieftincki is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Despite extensive surveys across numerous freshwater sites on Nusakambangan Island, this Critically Endangered damselfly has only been recorded at four locations so far. Across all of our surveys, we have observed just 12 individuals, highlighting how elusive and exceptionally rare this species is.” – Puji Lestari, Project Leader |
The team will identify and map priority freshwater habitats, assess key threats, and work collaboratively with government agencies, the private sector, and local communities to develop evidence-based conservation actions.
The project team (Puji Lestari, Hening Triandika R, and Agus Priyatin) together with the Endemic Indonesia Society and Nature Reserve (BKSDA RKW Cilacap) teams conducting field surveys on Nusakambangan Island, Indonesia © Prajawan Kusuma Wardhana
They will also produce the first Dragonflies of Nusakambangan guide, creating a lasting conservation resource freely available to researchers, practitioners, students, and local communities. Together, these activities will improve habitat protection, strengthen long-term freshwater stewardship, and ensure that conservation decisions are guided by reliable ecological data.
“This project is important to our team because it marks a significant step in our growth as conservation leaders while giving a voice to one of Indonesia’s most overlooked freshwater species.”
On the Wing, On the Brink: Assessment of Breeding Raptors in Assam, India: Assam holds some of India’s last strongholds for breeding vultures and fish eagles, yet it’s still unknown where and how many pairs are nesting.
 An Endangered Pallas’s fish eagle (Immature) © Aniket Pawar | “Our four focal species reveal Assam in miniature: Pallas’s fish eagles nesting along the wetlands and rivers of protected areas, Indian spotted eagles in working farmlands, and white-rumped and slender-billed vultures, both Critically Endangered, often nesting on tall trees in people’s backyards, sometimes right above where children play. Four species, overlapping ranges, and one opportunity: a single project that, for the first time, brings farmers, forest staff and villagers together into one shared picture of the true state of Assam’s breeding raptors.” – Aniket Pawar, Project Leader |
This project will survey breeding raptors across seven national parks and the farmland and wetlands around them, combining direct nest monitoring with camera traps and community interviews. Forest staff, students and local gypsy drivers will be trained to keep watching for nests long after our surveys end.
Dogs, cattle and Critically Endangered white-rumped vultures in Assam, India © Aniket Pawar
The result? Assam’s first real baseline on these species, developed to be used by park managers deciding where to focus protection, and by conservationists planning where captive-bred vultures might one day be released.
“We’re not just counting nests, we’re making sure that by the time someone finally asks how raptors in Assam are doing, there’s an answer waiting for them.”
Bhutan’s first GPS-AI study empowering communities to protect great hornbills: This project will generate Bhutan’s first detailed evidence on how great hornbills move through Biological Corridor 03 and identify the nesting areas, feeding sites and movement bottlenecks that require urgent protection.
“Protecting the great hornbill means protecting the ancient trees, connected forests and community relationships that sustain wildlife and people across southern Bhutan.” – Wangdi Wangdi, Project Leader
A great hornbill soaring about a forested landscape in Bhutan © Wangchuk Blon
The project’s findings will provide practical recommendations and spatial information for corridor management while building local and institutional capacity for the long-term conservation of great hornbills and their forest habitat.
Conserving the Endangered Kashmir grey langur in the Western Himalayas, Pakistan: This project aims to secure important habitats for the Endangered Kashmir grey langur – one of the world’s least-studied and most range-restricted primates – in Pakistan’s Western Himalayas through science-based research and community-led conservation.
The project will help strengthen conservation efforts by improving knowledge of the species’ distribution, habitat use, and threats, while working closely with local communities to support its long-term survival.
An Endangered Kashmir Grey Langur (Semnopithecus ajax) in its natural habitat in the Kaghan Valley KP province of Pakistan © Abid Ali
The team will conduct camera trap surveys, occupancy assessments, habitat mapping, and community engagement to identify priority habitats, understand threats, and promote coexistence between local communities and wildlife.
Project team members conducting field surveys in Kaghan Valley, Pakistan, collecting ecological data to better understand the distribution, habitat use, and conservation needs of the Endangered Kashmir grey langur © Noman Khan
“For our team, this [CLP award] is an opportunity to grow as future conservation leaders while working alongside local communities to secure a better future for the Kashmir grey langur. What excites us most is the opportunity to generate new knowledge about one of the world’s least-studied primates while working alongside local communities to create lasting conservation impact in Pakistan’s Western Himalayas.”
Find out more and watch the project video here.
Come and join us
If you are interested in supporting our work building the next generation of conservation leaders, such as through our Future Conservationist Awards, write to us at clp@birdlife.org or contribute directly to our mission.
We thank the March Conservation Fund, the Hempel Foundation, the Rufford Foundation and Arcadia for generously supporting CLP’s 2026 Future Conservationist Awards in Asia.