A celebration of the next cohort of “world-changing” Whitley Award winners.
An “oasis” of good news, the 2025 Whitley Awards Ceremony welcomed 400 attendees including donors, supporters and country Ambassadors at the Royal Geographical Society in London to honour the six latest Whitley Award-winning conservationists protecting our planet for future generations, as well as this year’s Whitley Gold Award winner.
Leading local solutions to the global biodiversity and climate crises, the winners shared the inspiring impact of their work with teams in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal, and their ambitious plans to scale their successes with £50,000 in Whitley Award project funding.
WFN Ambassadors Tom Heap and Kate Humble compèred the ceremony with warmth and wit, joined online by over 2,300 people and counting around the world on YouTube.
WFN’s Founder Edward Whitley OBE thanked our major donors, the Friends of WFN, and supporting partners for their ongoing generosity that enables all we do, and recounted extraordinary achievements from our global network of Whitley Award alumni. From epic legal battles for environmental justice to meeting influential Government Ministers, watch Edward’s speech for more detail.
When speaking about the strength of this year’s winners, our Patron HRH The Princess Royal noted that “They are born communicators. They have an astonishing ability to put the story and the facts, the figures, together to make a story that utterly convinces the people they meet. […] We have so much to learn from them as individuals, from their teams, and from what they have achieved.” Watch HRH The Princess Royal’s speech.
In his powerful keynote speech, 2025 Whitley Gold Award winner Dr Olivier Nsengimana emphasized the importance of trust and home-grown solutions: “Conservation isn’t about transaction. It’s about genuine partnership and understanding communities. Communities want to be part of the solution.”
The evening also premiered seven short winner films by Studio Silverback and Open Planet Studios, narrated by Kate and Tom, that bring to life the incredible work of these inspiring conservationists and their teams. Watch the films here.
Attendees enjoy the warm spring evening at the RGS.Guests browse their ceremony programmes to learn more about the latest cohort of winners.WFN Ambassadors Danielle de Niese and Kate Humble catch-up before the ceremony begins.Representatives and family members from the Shears Foundation enjoy the pre-reception outdoors at the RGS.Rahayu Oktaviani poses with Georgie White from Hempel Foundation who sponsors her Whitley Award.The pre-ceremony reception offers the WFN team, including Trustees, and supporters the chance to connect.WFN Trustee Dino Martins, Yara Barros and Antonio Patriota, Ambassador of Brazil to the UK.Farina Othman greets WFN Patron HRH The Princess Royal greets as she arrives at the RGS.WFN Ambassador/Compère Tom Heap chats before taking the stage for the ceremony to begin.WFN Ambassadors and Compères Tom Heap and Kate Humble welcome this year’s guests. From Bornean elephants to Javan gibbons, the focus species of each winner’s project graced our stage backdrop.WFN Founder, Edward Whitley OBE, addresses the audience in the Ondaatje Theatre. Watch Edward’s full speech again.Winners inspired the audience during their moving acceptance speeches, including Reshu Bashyal who reminded us that “The decline of plants is a crisis that is often overlooked in conservation, which threatens the lives and ecosystems of many.” Watch the winner speeches here.Whitley Award winners received their trophies from WFN Patron HRH The Princess Royal. Rahayu Oktaviani, pictured, gifted HRH The Princess Royal with the Ambu Halimun ecoprint scarf she wears.High Commissioner for Rwanda Johnston Busingye joins 2025 Whitley Gold Award winner Olivier Nsengimana and WFN Trustee Catherine Faulks on stage after the ceremony.Andrés Link is joined by representatives of the William Brake Charitable Trust who sponsor his Whitley Award.Federico Kacoliris and Kini Roesler, a 2021 Whitley Award winner who joined us for this year’s Ceremony week, are pictured with representatives of the Frank Brake Charitable Trust who sponsored both of their Whitley Awards.Following the ceremony, guests enjoyed a special reception attended by Her Royal Highness. Here, BBC News Reporter and Presenter Luxmy Gopal, who was also a member of the 2025 Whitley Award Judging Panel, is also pictured with WFN Founder Edward Whitley OBE.Representatives from Silverback Studios and Open Planet Studios, who made this year’s wonderful winner films, together after the ceremony. Watch the seven winner films here.Some of our WFN Ambassadors join the 2025 Whitley Award winners on stage to celebrate.
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.
