aris, 18 November-This year's UNESCO Sultan Qaboos Prize for Environmental Conservation will be awarded to the Bangalore-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in recognition of its socially-just environmental conservation and sustainable development activities, following the recommendation of the international jury of the prize. The award ceremony will be held in Budapest, Hungary, on 20 November during the forthcoming World Science Forum.
The prize recognizes ATREE for its contribution to participatory approach to improving environmental conservation, applied in its initiative in India's northeastern Sikkim and Darjeeling regions involving conservation planning and the creation and promotion of sustainable livelihoods. The prize also recognizes significant contributions towards the discovery of new species in the Western Ghats, and exceptional outreach to raise awareness of India's biodiversity and train environmental leaders.
Ranked among the top 20 environmental think-tanks globally, ATREE is dedicated to the generation of interdisciplinary knowledge, education, and policy for the environment and for socially just development. ATREE also contributes to the conservation of diverse environments throughout India, including the Eastern Himalayas, the UNESCO Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and the Western Ghats World Heritage Site, Vembanad lake, Kaziranga and Manas National Parks, the grasslands of Kutch, the wetlands of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and urban landscapes of Karnataka. Allocated every other year, the UNESCO Sultan Qaboos Prize for Environmental Conservation was established through a generous donation by Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said of Oman. Laureates are awarded US$100,000, a diploma and a medal during an award ceremony.
