This year we received 337 applications for our Conservation Team Awards. After a rigorous three-stage selection process, our Awards Selection Panel met in May 2024 and agreed on the final list of award-winners.
Our 2024 Team Awards, worth a total of $212,704, include 11 entry-level Future Conservationist Awards and two Continuation Follow-Up Awards. The 13 award-winning teams of 59 conservationists (eight led by men, five led by women) are undertaking projects in 11 different countries across Latin America, Asia & the Pacific, and Africa.
By using their local knowledge, the teams will undertake research and practical action to protect some of the world’s most threatened species and habitats, including: the world’s smallest wildcat, the guigna, in Chile; the Satara gecko in India; the Sokoke scops-owl and Usambara eagle-owl in Tanzania; the intermediate puddle frog in Ghana; the ornate paradisefish in Sri Lanka; and black corals in Indonesia.
The teams will work hand-in-hand with local communities to achieve their project goals. For example, one team in Colombia is preserving the biocultural diversity of the Musuiuiai Indigenous Territory by using the Vulnerable lowland tapir as a “Landscape Species” to define conservation lands and management priorities. Another team will work with indigenous communities in Bangladesh to conserve Asiatic black bears and sun bears.
More details about all 13 winning projects can be found below by following the links to each individual project page. You can also read this article announcing the awards.
Funding these projects would not have been possible without the generous support of the Hempel Foundation, the March Conservation Fund, and Arcadia – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.
Conservation Follow-Up Awards – continuation awards for CLP alumni worth $25,000 each for projects up to two years in length
- Improving biodiversity conservation and management of Marine Protected Areas in the SWA-Uruguay led by Angel Segura
- Saving the Critically Endangered Intermediate puddle frog in Ghana led by Francis Osei-Gyan
Future Conservationist Awards – entry-level awards worth $15,000 for projects between three and 12 months in length
Future Conservationist Awards in Africa:
- Befriending the three Critically Endangered pygmy chameleons in Morogoro region, Tanzania led by Eva Johnson Ayaro
- Assessing populations and promoting Sokoke scops-owl and Usambara eagle-owl in Tanzania led by Ezra Mremi
- An integrative research and conservation programme for the Chamaeleonidae from southwestern Madagascar led by Hajaniaina Rasoloarison
Future Conservationist Awards in Latin America:
- Reducing poultry-carnivore conflict and promoting guigna conservation in Chile led by Carolina Susana Ugarte Caraball
- Unravelling Wolffsohn´s Viscacha: conservation of a mysterious inhabitant of Patagonia, Argentina led by Lucas Aristides Hormachea
- Using lowland tapirs to preserve biocultural diversity in an Indigenous Territory in Colombia led by Jose Jarol Muchavisoy
Future Conservationist Awards in Asia & the Pacific:
- Building knowledge and increasing capacity for community-based bear conservation in Bangladesh led by Sourav Chakma
- Conserving the Critically Endangered Satara gecko with local stakeholders in the Western Ghats led by Vaishnavi Apte
- Ornate paradisefish conservation in Sri Lanka led by P.K.Tharushi Malshani
- Conservation of the Vulnerable Malabar grey hornbill in the Western Ghats, India led by Ahirbudhnyan M
- Tracing the cultural beliefs and ecological impact of using black corals “Akar Bahar” in Indonesia led by Nenik Kholilah
One member from each award-winning team will be invited to attend the CLP Conservation Leadership & Management workshop in October 2024. As in previous years, this course offers training in essential topics for professional conservationists, enabling them to build on the knowledge and skills that will underpin their future careers as conservation leaders. Moreover, by bringing participants together from around the world, the workshop provides an opportunity to form valuable connections with other early-career conservationists. Winning a CLP award also gives each team member continuous support through the CLP alumni network, which offers more opportunities for funding, training and learning exchanges.
Summaries of previous years’ winning projects can also be reviewed under our Supported Projects pages.