Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) alumna, Lisa Paguntalan-Marte, has won a 2026 MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity, recognising her outstanding contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and to the realisation of a more sustainable society.
Talking at the MIDORI Prize ceremony in August 2026, Lisa credited her CLP Award in 2000 as one of the encounters that shaped her conservation journey © AEON Environmental Foundation
Co-organised biennially since 2010 by the AEON Environmental Foundation and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity is one of the world’s most eminent conservation awards. The two or three winners each cycle are chosen by an expert selection panel based on three criteria: 1) achievements in conservation; 2) capacity to lead future global environmental efforts; and 3) impact on both local and global environmental solutions. Winners receive a wooden plaque, a commemorative gift, and a monetary prize of $100,000.
This year, CLP alumna Lisa Paguntalan-Marte has become the first Filipino to win a MIDORI Prize, receiving the award at a ceremony in Tokyo on August 27th 2026 alongside her fellow MIDORI Prize winner, Professor Alexandra Zimmerman.
The CLP project team in 2000 (L-R): Mery Jean Gadiana, Marisol Pedregosa, Lisa Paguntalan-Marte, Reynaldo Lepangue and Fortunato Catalbas © Marisol Pedregosa
A CLP award supported Lisa at the very start of her conservation career in 2000 (then called a ‘BP Conservation Award’). This support helped her complete a project that obtained information key to conserving threatened endemic birds in the lowland and montane forests of south Negros in the Philippines. Key project outcomes included a survey that recorded 125 bird species, of which nine of the 18 globally threatened birds of Negros were confirmed. Notably, the rufous-lored kingfisher, believed in extinct in Negros at the time, was in fact observed by Lisa and her team during their surveys, while others, including the Critically Endangered Philippine cockatoo, were not found.
Lisa credits CLP’s early-career support to kickstarting her subsequent career: “[The CLP award] helped shape my future and propelled me to pursue a career in conservation science.”
Today, Lisa serves as Executive Director of the Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. – a national NGO working to preserve the unique biodiversity of the Philippines. She has dedicated the last 26 years of her life to protecting the Philippines’ extraordinary biodiversity, championing initiatives that respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and translating conservation science into practical policy and action.
Lisa’s career has contributed to the conservation of several of the Philippines’ endemic species, including the Critically Endangered Sulu racquet-tail © Godfrey Jakosalem / Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc.
The 2026 MIDORI Prize honours Lisa’s huge impact on conservation, including:
- Leading the local implementation of the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan
- Establishing mechanisms to integrate biodiversity conservation into local government planning and budgeting
- Helping to rediscover the Philippine bare-backed fruit bat (which was thought to be extinct at the time) and conserving threatened endemic wildlife including the Visayan and Sulu hornbills, and Sulu Racquet-tail.
- Championing community-led initiatives that respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and promote the participation of women
Lisa (right) with her fellow MIDORI Prize winner, Alexandra Zimmerman (centre) and AEON Environmental Foundation Chairman, Motoya Okada (left) © AEON Environmental Foundation
For everyone at CLP, Lisa’s achievement demonstrates the long-term value of supporting emerging conservation leaders. By identifying and nurturing early-career conservationists like Lisa, CLP catalyses decades of conservation impact, leadership, and inspiration for future generations.
Congratulations to Lisa and Alexandra on their incredible achievement!
Come and join us
If you’d like to help us kickstart the careers of amazing conservationists like Lisa, contribute directly to our work or write to us at clp@birdlife.org. Any emerging conservationists who want to follow in Lisa’s footsteps, look out for the call for applications to our 2027 Future Conservationist Awards, due to be announced in early October.