On 30th April, we announced the latest cohort of Whitley Award winners, six inspiring conservationists from across the Global South working to protect our planet for future generations.
Our Founder and Trustee, Edward Whitley OBE, shares a message of optimism and an ongoing commitment to support conservationists when they need it most.
Dear Friends,
It’s our pleasure to welcome you to the 2025 Whitley Awards Ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society. Thank you for joining us in celebrating this year’s inspirational Whitley Award winners and envisioning a future where communities and wildlife thrive together on a healthy planet.
Brighter Future
We hope that the Whitley Awards provide an antidote to environmental pessimism. Over 32 years, with your generous support and funding, we have channelled more than £24 million to 220 conservation leaders in 80 countries across the Global South. These changemakers are setting a path forward, combining the latest science with traditional knowledge to drive local solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises. This evening, we come together to honour those protecting our planet for future generations.
Amidst shifting global funding commitments and – in some quarters – faltering climate ambition, we believe that we need to step up to support conservationists when they need it most. As a charity, we plan to do all we can in the coming years to scale up support for our network of winners at this crucial time, and we hope you will continue to join us on that journey.
Hope and Impact
Tonight, we welcome six new Whitley Award winners to our Winner Network and announce the prestigious Gold Award winner. Each year, we are struck by the tenacity and vision of the winners and their teams. They demonstrate an unwavering commitment to halting and reversing the loss of Earth’s biodiversity and wild places through community-led solutions.
As the winners gather together in London, we will host a series of events over the week to celebrate their remarkable achievements, and to help them leverage the success of their Whitley Award win. In addition to £50,000 in project funding, we will provide each winner with networking opportunities, and communications and speech training. We will also introduce them to our network of fellow conservation leaders to foster international collaboration and nurture their ability to effect positive change.
We sincerely thank you, our wonderful donors, for your committed and generous support that enables all we do. We hope you enjoy celebrating with us this evening and that you will follow the winners’ accomplishments over the years to come. In the words of this year’s Gold Award winner, “Watch us and see what we can do. The future is bright.”
EDWARD WHITLEY, OBE
Founder | Whitley Fund for Nature
See the full ceremony booklet here.
Discover Olivier Nsengimana’s work to lead protection for grey crowned cranes across East Africa with his Whitley Gold Award here.
