💡 Discover the story of CLP alum and UN consultant, Shahin Isayev
🦅 Two decades ago, early in his career, a CLP Team Award enabled Shahin Isayev and his team to embark on the first-ever detailed survey of the eastern imperial eagle in northwest Azerbaijan. At the time, only six nests of this globally threatened bird were known in the entire country, yet the team's survey (across 6,000 km² in the northwest) revealed five times that number: 31 active nests.
🤝 Yet Shahin believes his team's greatest success was the establishment of the first-ever group of young conservationists and nature enthusiasts in Azerbaijan.
🗣️ "Thanks to CLP, we helped transform nature conservation into a broader societal movement in Azerbaijan, especially among the young generation.”
🫶 Many of Shahin's former team members and volunteers from the CLP projects continue to play active roles in different national and international organizations, contributing to environmental protection not only in Azerbaijan but also globally.
🗣️ “This legacy is what I am most proud of, as it represents a lasting impact that extends beyond the scope of our initial projects."
🏅 By 2007, Shahin was a fully fledged conservation leader. He had completed an intensive three-week CLP training workshop (which he "still proudly lists on his CV") and three CLP projects in total.
🙌 These experiences set Shahin up for what would be an illustrious career dedicated to minimizing negative human impacts on nature and the environment, including as a consultant biodiversity specialist at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and as a consultant on environmental safeguards and capacity building at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
👐 Now Shahin spends most of his time collaborating with the FAO in Azerbaijan to find sustainable and environmentally sound solutions to dispose of persistent organic pollutants (poisonous chemical substances that break down slowly and can enter into food chains as a result).
🗣️ "I believe that when conservation is seen as a shared responsibility, it creates a collective commitment to safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystems. Collaboration at all levels is essential. By fostering partnerships, educating communities, and embracing innovation, we can build a future where people and nature thrive together.”
ℹ️ Read more about Shahin's story here: www.conservationleadershipprogramme.org/interview/a-legacy-of-lasting-impact/
CLP partners: BirdLife International Fauna & Flora Wildlife Conservation Society
#WeAreCLP #ConservationLeadershipProgramme #ConservationLeadership #Conservation #Azerbaijan
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2 days ago
🥳 Congratulations to CLP alum Alberto Campos on being shortlisted for the Indianapolis Prize 2025 🎊
Three-time CLP award-winner Alberto is one of six conservationists named by Indianapolis Zoo as the 2025 Indianapolis Prize DeHaan Finalists 🎉
The biennial Indianapolis Prize recognizes the most successful conservationists who have achieved major victories in saving an animal species or group of species. The DeHaan Finalists will each receive a $50,000 award to continue their conservation efforts.
Alberto was shortlisted from a group of 44 nominees worldwide, because of his significant, measurable and long-term efforts to save the Antillean manatee and red knot shorebird using high-quality scientific and collaborative approaches.
Alberto and his team at Brazilian NGO Aquasis were first supported by CLP in 2004 as early-career conservationists. Over the course of six years, they received two more CLP awards, with this vital funding and training helping their efforts to protect a rediscovered Critically Endangered bird, the Araripe manakin, in Ceará, Brazil.
Among many achievements from these projects, Alberto and his team helped produce and publish an officially recognised conservation plan for the species in 2006, in partnership with BirdLife International and the Brazilian Ministry of Environment. The plan was based on the extensive field research and environmental assessments the team carried out as part of their first CLP project, and was later adopted by the Brazilian environmental authorities as the official National Action Plan for the species.
Alberto believes his team has been key to keeping him motivated all these years. “Along with my firm beliefs about the importance of conserving nature and preventing extinctions, I think the most important factor keeping me motivated in the long-term has been working with a group of committed, like-minded people."
Read more about Alberto's story here: www.conservationleadershipprogramme.org/interview/pursuing-new-paths-brazil/
Congratulations to Alberto and the five other DeHaan Finalists! 👏
#WeAreCLP #IndianapolisPrize #ConservationLeadershipProgramme #ConservationLeadership
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5 days ago
