£1.2 million awarded to 16 outstanding conservationists from our network of Whitley Award winners to scale up proven solutions
Conservation requires sustained support, collaboration and action. Whitley Fund for Nature’s Continuation Funding provides follow-on grants of up to £100,000 over two years to enable past Whitley Award winners and their teams to scale up their conservation work, collaborate across regions and disciplines, as well as address new challenges and urgent needs.
This year, £1,213,100 has been awarded to support locally-led projects protecting endangered species, restoring ecosystems, sustaining livelihoods, and driving lasting change in 13 countries, across 11.6 million ha of habitat.
Together with communities, these proven conservationists and their teams are delivering a range of solutions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss – growing their projects nationally, connecting habitat fragments, tackling wildlife crime, securing wider legal protections, and building multi-level, international partnerships and alliances.
Delivering meaningful outcomes for both people and nature, these projects will benefit at least 35,000 individuals through ethical community engagement such as education, public awareness, job creation, and fostering sustainable livelihoods. The conservation leaders and their teams will reach at least 16,000 people through public outreach, and nearly 13,000 people will receive training.
At a critical time for nature, the need for conservation funding is at an all-time high. We received a record number of applications from WFN’s network totalling £3.6 million for Continuation Funding projects.
We are so grateful to all those donors who stand with nature and the people working every day to protect it. Thank you for your ongoing support that makes these impactful grants possible.
LATIN AMERICA:
EARLY RESCUE RESPONSE FOR COLOMBIA’S RIVER DOLPHINS AND MANATEES
Dr Fernando Trujillo (2007 Whitley Gold Award winner) | Colombia
Extreme heat is deadly for humans and wildlife and when the Amazon experienced the worst drought in a century in 2023, 300 river dolphins died from heat shock after the water temperature breached 40 degrees celsius, and manatees became fatally stranded in swamps and rivers in Colombia’s Caribbean region.
Fernando has devised an early warning and response protocol for the rescue of four endangered species of dolphins and manatees in Colombia’s Amazonas, Caribbean and Orinoco regions, which are highly vulnerable to extreme droughts. As many as 2 billion people globally live along the rivers inhabited by river dolphins. A key driver of an 11-country treaty to protect river dolphins globally, Fernando has been based in the Amazon for more than three decades and the Omacha Foundation he founded has strong links with local communities who will play a key role in this new rescue response.
With Continuation Funding, Omacha will help local communities install equipment to measure ambient temperature, water temperature and water levels in the Tarapoto Ramsar Site, Bita Ramsar Site, Arauca as well as Sinu rivers which span an area of 11,400 km2. At least 200 people in the region will be trained in the rescue and translocation of the Amazon river dolphin, Gray dolphin, Amazonian manatee and Caribbean manatee. A network of wildlife veterinarians will be created and coordinate with government organisations. The strengthening of fishing agreements to reduce destructive fishing practices is also an important component of this project, minimising the accidental catches of dolphins and manatees in nets.
CORRIDORS OF LIFE: IMPROVING LIVELIHOODS AND CONNECTING FORESTS IN BRAZIL
Laury Cullen (2002 Whitley Gold Award winner) | Brazil
The Atlantic Forest of Brazil is one of the world’s most threatened biodiversity hotspots, having been reduced to about 75 percent of its original size. In the Pontal do Paranapanema region, decades of deforestation have left isolated forest fragments where endangered species struggle to survive. Laury Cullen and his team at the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPÊ) have been working to reverse this damage through the Corridors of Life project.
Since 2002, IPÊ has restored over 1,000 ha of Atlantic Forest by planting more than 2 million native trees to complete Brazil’s first and biggest wildlife corridor, reconnecting critical conservation areas like Morro do Diabo State Park and the Black Lion Tamarin Ecological Station. This restoration has neutralised approximately 350,000 tons of CO₂ while recreating habitats for threatened wildlife. Community engagement is central to the success of these conservation efforts; IPÊ has generated £5 million in local revenue and created 200 jobs through seed collection, nursery management, and restoration work, building a self-sustaining regional economy. The team works with landowners to establish forest corridors while helping small family farms integrate shaded coffee and agroforestry systems.
Using Continuation Funding, Laury and his team will expand biodiversity monitoring using innovative DNA-based methods to track not just large wildlife, but also the fungi, bacteria, and invertebrates essential for pollination and soil health. They will also seek to quantify ecosystem service delivery to local communities from restored forests, and to develop community capacity for conducting these assessments. This affordable, replicable approach will provide restoration projects worldwide with robust methods to demonstrate success, proving that nature-based climate solutions deliver holistic benefits.
SAFEGUARDING GUATEMALA’S ANCESTRAL RAINFOREST
Marleny Rosales-Meda (2008 Whitley Award winner) | Guatemala
Northwestern Guatemala’s Ancestral Rainforests Landscape represents one of Central America’s last remaining tropical rainforest strongholds, spanning 149,500 ha of critical habitat that sustains over 700 wildlife species. At its heart lies the Ramsar-designated Ecoregion Lachua, protected for generations by Maya-Q’eqchi’ communities whose traditional stewardship has proven essential to conservation success. Sadly, this irreplaceable landscape faces mounting threats from oil palm expansion, hydroelectric megaprojects, and illegal resource extraction.
For over two decades, ORCONDECO has partnered with Mayan communities to develop grassroots conservation strategies that blend ancestral wisdom with scientific knowledge, protecting both biodiversity and cultural heritage. The organisation established Atz’umak, Guatemala’s first Indigenous-led Transformative Conservation Centre, which now serves as a national reference for grassroots conservation and climate resilience. Through participatory training programmes, ORCONDECO has empowered young Maya-Q’eqchi’ adults as conservation leaders, with 50% of participants elected to formal leadership roles. Community engagement is central to the success of these conservation efforts, having secured 62 local conservation agreements and helped establish Cynegetic Region II, a landmark policy protecting wildlife across 2.3 million ha – nearly a quarter of Guatemala’s territory.
Using Continuation Funding, Marleny’s work will focus on supporting a vital initiative that was halted when U.S. government funding was unexpectedly cut. The project will strengthen Indigenous conservation leadership across priority zones, restore at least 10,000 ha of forest and wetland habitats, and expand sustainable livelihoods that reduce environmental degradation while increasing community resilience to climate change.
FISHERIES CERTIFICATION TO REDUCE TURTLE BYCATCH IN PERU
Joanna Alfaro Shigueto (2012 Whitley Award winner) | Peru
Fishery bycatch is the most significant anthropogenic source of injury and mortality affecting marine turtles. In the southeast Pacific, the pelagic longline fishery for mahi mahi is one of the largest fleets and sources of marine turtle bycatch, with Peru being the world’s top mahi mahi producer. Two Critically Endangered marine turtles, leatherbacks and loggerheads, are often caught in this fishery, alongside green, hawksbill and olive ridley turtles.
Research driven by Joanna, a Peruvian biologist, and her team at ProDelphinus, led to the country’s first fisheries management regulation for the mahi mahi small-scale longline fishery in the country. The regulation took effect in 2024 and is focused on reducing the impact on marine turtle populations, requiring that all of the 4,000 vessels in this fleet have at least one person certified in safe handling and release methods aboard all fishing trips.
With Continuation Funding, Joanna will work in collaboration with Peruvian government officials, and assist with the implementation of these new regulations to understand the effect of this certification on fisheries and the reduction of injuries of captured turtles. Building on the 1,800 fishers who have already received training, Joanna plans to target 1,000 vessels over the course of one year and train an additional 1,000 fishers in safe turtle release as well as equip a minimum of 200 vessels with tools to release turtles.
EXPANDING GRASSLAND CONSERVATION FOR MEXICO’S PRAIRIE DOG
Gerardo Ceballos (2006 Whitley Award winner) | Mexico
Since 1988, Gerardo has worked to save the black-tailed prairie dog from extinction and conserve its grassland ecosystem in Mexico. He proposed the creation of the half-million-hectare Janos Biosphere Reserve (JBR) to protect regional biodiversity, including Mexico’s only remaining colonies of prairie dogs.
However, continuous degradation has converted once-rich prairie into arid scrubland causing a rapid decline in ecosystem services, from carbon sequestration and soil fertility to biodiversity support and water regulation. These services are essential not only for the health of the ecosystem but also for the resilience and livelihoods of local communities.
Building on successes from past WFN funding, Gerardo and Servicios Cientificos y Ecologicos will focus on the main drivers of prairie dog decline – drought, invasive plant species, and habitat loss and deterioration due to illegal agriculture and unsustainable cattle management. They will work to maintain and increase prairie dog populations across 3,500 ha through monitoring prairie dog colonies, and to mitigate the impact of habitat loss and degradation caused by poor cattle ranching activities, they’ll establish collaboration agreements with landowners managing 35,000 ha, encourage the designation of properties as Voluntary Conservation Areas, restore grasslands, remove invasive scrub plants, and combat soil erosion with the construction of gabion dams. Lastly, they’ll continue to collaborate with local stakeholders on workshops and capacity building to advance conservation and environmental education efforts.
AFRICA:
CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY MEETS LOCAL KNOWLEDGE TO PROTECT LIONS
Serge Alexis Kamgang (2023 Whitley Award winner) | Cameroon
The Bénoué Ecosystem, spanning 2.4 million ha, represents a critical area for both lions and the endangered Kordofan giraffe. Lions in Cameroon are regionally Critically Endangered, with populations in the Bénoué Ecosystem facing escalating threats from human-lion conflicts, habitat fragmentation, and livestock in protected areas. As traditional grazing lands become scarce, herders bring cattle into national parks; when precious livestock is attacked by lions, herders sometimes retaliate by killing lions. These pressures are exacerbated by poaching, disease transmission at the livestock-wildlife interface, and the erosion of traditional ecological knowledge.
Previous funding has delivered significant progress: three lions have been collared in Bouba Ndjidda National Park to track their movements and conflict patterns, 25 camera traps have been deployed to monitor carnivores and prey, and 47 eco-guards plus local lion guards have been trained in monitoring techniques – all contributing vital data to update Cameroon’s national lion action plan. Community engagement is central to the success of these conservation efforts with awareness campaigns having reached 2,523 pupils across 22 schools and 16 villages.
Using Continuation Funding, the BEDD (Biodiversité Environnement et Développement Durable) team will deploy 60 Autonomous Recording Units to detect poaching threats in real-time and expand camera trap monitoring across 540 km2. The project will document traditional ecological knowledge from local communities, integrating these time-tested methods with new AI-powered Blinka+ devices designed to deter lions from attacking livestock. Training will empower 60 eco-guards, veterinarians, and community leaders to operate this technology, while awareness campaigns will reach at least 3,000 people across 20 villages. By bridging modern science with ancestral knowledge, this project aims to create lasting community-led solutions for coexistence.
SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION OF MADAGASCAR’S CRITICAL WETLANDS AND FORESTS
Josia Razafindramanana (2012 Whitley Award winner) | Madagascar
Despite their importance, freshwater ecosystems and the forests that form in corridors alongside them often receive limited attention in conservation efforts. The Maevatanana lakes and river system, spanning 26,000 ha in the Betsiboka region of northern Madagascar, is no exception. A Key Biodiversity Area, it is home to highly threatened fish, waterbird, and reptile species as well as the Critically Endangered crowned sifaka – one of 100 lemur species found only in Madagascar.
With Continuation Funding, Josia and IMPACT Madagascar will strengthen their community-led conservation model within the Maevatanana-Ambatoboeni wetlands and surrounding forests. They will empower communities to play a central role in restoring and managing these ecosystems through a combination of sustainable agriculture and aquaculture, the restoration of vital habitats and enhanced patrols to reduce unsustainable practices. Within two years, this project will restore 20 ha of riverbanks and 10 ha of surrounding forests by planting 260,000 community-grown native saplings. They will train 10 wetland guards to conduct regular wetland patrols to curb illegal fishing gear use, logging and bushfires. Through training and by providing seeds and equipment, over 1,500 households will adopt climate-resilient agriculture to increase their household income by up to 30% annually.
Through these activities, Josia and her team expect to see a decrease in illegal fishing practices, a stable or increasing population of four threatened fish species in the lakes, an increasing crowned sifaka population and a reduction in the deforestation rate of the dry-gallery forests. By working at the intersection of biodiversity conservation and human well-being, this project aims to create a lasting model for wetland protection in Madagascar.
COMMUNITY FISH RESERVES NETWORK TO SAVE LAKE VICTORIA’S NATIVE FISH SPECIES
Leonard Akwany (2023 Whitley Award winner) | Kenya
According to the 2022 Living Planet report, monitored freshwater populations have fallen by an average of 83 per cent, the largest decline of any species group. Growing up on the shores of Africa’s largest lake, Lake Victoria, Leonard has seen first-hand the combined impacts of overfishing, pollution, habitat degradation, and wetlands loss. The lake’s fish species have declined from about 500 species to less than 200, impacting both wildlife and local communities that depend on them.
Leonard, Ecofinder Kenya and local fisher communities have worked together to protect Lake Victoria’s unique endemic and endangered fish species’ breeding grounds, freshwater habitats, and associated biodiversity. Their successes include creating over 4000 ha of community fish reserves, leading workshops and capacity building in sustainable livelihoods for 300 local participants, and developing fisheries co-management and sustainable financial plans.
With Continuation Funding, Leonard and team will scale up their efforts, using five target endemic and native fish species as indicator species to track their progress. Working with fisher communities and county and national government agencies, they will expand a network of community fish reserves by 2000 ha for protection and restoration of fish breeding areas, and undertake capacity building for effective co-management of fisheries. Looking to deepen an incentive-based model with community participation, they will train fishers, women and youth on alternative green livelihoods to reduce pressure on declining fisheries and habitat. Additionally, utilising nature-based solutions, Ecofinder Kenya will restore 35 km of degraded shoreline and associated aquatic habitats, and hatch and rear over 50,000 native fish juveniles to restock the zones under community-led sustainable fisheries management. This ensures an enduring healthier fish population and habitat – a win-win for people and nature in the region.
FIRE MANAGEMENT AND LANDSCAPE MONITORING FOR LEMURS AND LIVELIHOODS IN ANKARAFANTSIKA NATIONAL PARK
Mamy Razafitsalama (2023 Whitley Award winner) | Madagascar
Lemurs in Madagascar are the most endangered group of mammals in the world, with many of them listed as Critically Endangered. In western Madagascar, the tropical dry forest these lemurs and numerous other species depend on has been reduced to just 3 percent of its former size. The conservation urgency here is clear, and Mamy and Planet Madagascar are driving positive change for lemurs and their extremely rare biome.
Continuation Funding will allow Mamy and his team to establish a dedicated lemur monitoring team to systematically track population trends, study behaviour, and monitor habitat conditions to inform conservation efforts. The funding will scale effective grassroots programmes in Ankarafantsika National Park that combat the key threats of illegal logging, charcoal production, slash-and-burn agriculture, and uncontrolled fires. Joint community-military patrols will conduct daily surveillance across high risk areas, enhancing patrol effectiveness and forest security. The potential for devastating fires across the 160km2 management zone will also be tackled through expanding fire breaks by 15km, to over 31km total, and ensuring they are maintained and kept clear to prevent and contain fire spread.
Communities will actively participate in patrols, lemur monitoring, and environmental education. To spark awareness, Mamy and his team will continue to hit the airwaves with regular radio appearances and create educational films about their efforts. Over 300 pupils in six schools will benefit from conservation-based curricula, and community development includes offering business support for and connecting ecotourists to the women’s cooperative Tontolo Maitso who farm and sell citrus. By integrating scientific monitoring with strengthened enforcement and community empowerment, this project aims to preserve biodiversity, support local development, and ensure lasting impact within Ankarafantsika. (Image: Travis Steffens)
SCALING COMMUNITY-LED RESTORATION FOR HIROLA RECOVERY
Abdullahi Hussein Ali (2020 Whitley Award winner) | Kenya
With a global population fewer than 500 individuals, the Critically Endangered hirola antelope is listed among 10-top focal species at risk of imminent extinction by the Zoological Society London. Once numerous across parts of Kenya and Somalia, hirola are currently restricted to Kenya’s Garissa County in fragmented, tree-encroached rangelands. Through community-led conservation efforts, Ali, Hirola Conservation Program (HCP) and local communities are working together to save the world’s most endangered antelope – leading to a near 5-fold increase in its population today.
While their previous WFN funded work laid a solid foundation by restoring 1,000 ha of hirola rangelands, reinstating Arawale National Reserve, and digitising monitoring across hirola community conservancies, significant challenges remain. These include persistent habitat degradation, limited economic incentives for local stewardship, and increased vulnerability to climate change impacts, such as the severe drought experienced in 2023.
Ali and team are tackling these threats head-on, generating sustainable conservation impacts by expanding the grasslands hirola need to survive by a further 1,500 ha, and building a resilient native grassland seedbank ready for the wet season rains in seasons to come. With Continuation Funding, the team will expand two community-owned nature-based enterprises, such as Hirola Briquettes and grass seed harvesting; strengthen their community awareness and outreach programmes to reach an additional 10,000 people; and reinforce sustainable grazing systems across three conservancies to reduce overgrazing and disease transmission between livestock and wildlife. Community members trained during the first phase will now lead implementing and managing restoration activities and nature-based businesses, fostering long-term local ownership.
TACKLING LOGGING THROUGH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN EBO FOREST
Ekwoge Abwe (2013 Whitley Award winner) | Cameroon
Ekwoge and his team at CAMBIO have protected the vital Ebo Forest since 2005. This area makes up 50% of the Yabassi Key Biodiversity Area, the largest intact forest in the Gulf of Guinea biodiversity hotspot. It is home to an isolated population of Critically Endangered Ebo gorilla. With past WFN support, Ekwoge and his team launched community-led conservation projects in Ebo to safeguard the rich biodiversity and cultural heritage of local communities who see the forest as home. Before 2023, CAMBIO worked directly with these communities through an inclusive local land-use and participatory planning process.
However, in early 2023, the Government of Cameroon reclassified Ebo Forest into two logging concessions – despite the area’s global biodiversity importance. Logging began immediately, threatening this vital habitat. Logging roads also opened remote areas to hunters and bushmeat traders, increasing hunting activities in the chimpanzee habitat.
Communities and traditional chiefs have been sidelined. Their voices are no longer heard, and their rights to their customary forest are under threat. To address this, an independent organisation will act as a ‘stakeholder liaison’ to facilitate information exchange and mediation between stakeholders and community groups. Ekwoge and his team will develop outreach materials and create an annual conservation training program for local youth. They hope these efforts will empower communities to advocate for their rights and take part in decision-making.
To combat poaching, the team will support the installation of two permanently manned checkpoints. These will be located on the main access roads to each logging concession to limit hunter access to the forest. In the long term, they hope to designate Ebo Forest as a community protected area to conserve its biodiversity for generations to come.
ASIA:
TEAMING UP TO TAKE ETHICAL SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION TO NEPAL
Hem Sagar Baral (2005 Whitley Award winner) & Charudutt Mishra (2022 Whitley Gold Award winner) | Nepal
Two Whitley Award winners are joining forces to protect snow leopards in Nepal. Charudutt, Executive Director of the International Snow Leopard Trust, is a leading expert with nearly 30 years in snow leopard conservation. He has worked with national conservationists to establish strong snow leopard programmes in India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Pakistan. Hem, the former Director of Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), initially focused on participatory bird conservation before broadening his efforts to biodiversity conservation in Nepal.
Nepal is important for snow leopard conservation, estimated to be home to 400 snow leopards across about 30,500 km² of habitat. It also provides connectivity between snow leopard populations in the Eastern and Western Himalayas, and the Tibetan Plateau. However, with over 20% of its people living below the national poverty line and ranked among the UN’s Least Developed Countries, Nepal faces significant challenges for conservation. Loss of wild prey and retaliatory killing by livestock owners are significant threats, whilst poaching and wildlife trade are also common. There is a critical need for ongoing and sustainable snow leopard conservation efforts.
Working with Nepali conservationists, this project will first secure snow leopards over more than 1000 sq. km of unprotected habitat through participatory conservation before expanding further, and conduct field surveys in selected habitats to understand conservation priorities and build partnerships with Indigenous communities. By following the PARTNERS Principles approach, they will co-create conservation, conflict management, and income generation programs with Indigenous peoples and local communities. In collaboration with the Ethical Conservation Alliance, they will train 15 national conservationists in ethical nature conservation, and develop an effective snow leopard team with value-aligned local partner organisations. Lastly, the team will work with the Government and national conservationists to help update the country’s snow leopard conservation priorities, last set 12 years ago. (Image: Koustubh Sharma)
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY PROTECTION FOR PANGOLINS AND THEIR HABITAT IN NEPAL
Dr Tulshi Laxmi Suwal (2023 Whitley Award winner) | Nepal
Tulshi is known in Nepal as “the pangolin woman” for her work to protect the most trafficked mammal on the planet and its forest habitat. The founder of Small Mammals Conservation and Research Foundation, Tulshi conducted the first impact assessment of fires on the habitat of the Critically Endangered Chinese pangolin in Nepal, one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change where forest fires are intensifying.
Tulshi’s Whitley Award created sustainable Community Pangolin Conservation Groups to monitor pangolin populations and their habitats and equipped them to manage fires and plant trees. More than 12,000 native broadleaf trees were planted to restore pangolin habitat impacted by fires with a 75 percent survival rate. This also resulted in a reduction in forest fires and a noticeable increase in pangolin distribution across the restored 1500 ha area.
Thanks largely to community-based forest management, Nepal increased its forest cover from 29 percent in 1994 to more than 46 percent in 2022, according to The World Bank. With Continuation Funding, Tulshi will lead on the creation of two community-managed nurseries that can produce 4,000 native broad-leaved tree saplings to address a lack of supply. Community groups will plant and monitor the saplings in a 1,000 hectare area in Banke National Park which connects to Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary in India, home to tigers, striped hyenas, giant hornbills in addition to both Chinese and Indian pangolins. To strengthen stewardship, Tulshi will renew training for forest users and university students as well as support green enterprises led by women and Indigenous communities. Applying a holistic, community-based approach, Tulshi and her team will build on the success of her Whitley Award project to scale up urgent protection for pangolins and their threatened habitat.
COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACH TO CONSERVE SNOW LEOPARDS AND IMPROVE LIVELIHOODS
Muhammad Ali Nawaz (2016 Whitley Award winner) | Pakistan
Snow leopards are Vulnerable on a global scale and Critically Endangered within Pakistan’s boundaries – a habitat covering approximately 80,000 km². Ali and the Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) team will strengthen their conservation and enhance the livelihoods of local communities in the newly designated Terich-Torkhow Conservancy by scaling up interventions successfully piloted under past WFN Funding.
This unique ecosystem in Northern Pakistan is under mounting pressure, with many threats such as human-wildlife conflict, poaching, illegal hunting as well as unsustainable land use and habitat degradation. The impacts of climate change are intensifying, further destabilising fragile ecosystems and increasing risks for approximately 14,700 residents.
Weaving biodiversity protection and sustainable community development, this project will empower existing community-based organisations, build the capacity of wildlife managers and community activists, promote sustainable livelihood activities such as honey beekeeping, and provide training to SLF staff. To promote sustainable resource management, the team will install a solar-powered system to lift water from the river and plant 10,000 forest and 2,000 fruit trees. To reduce human-wildlife conflict, the project will vaccinate and deworm livestock through trained Community Ecosystem Health Workers, build more predator-proof corrals, and pilot a community-based livestock insurance scheme. Community Wildlife Guards will prevent poaching and conduct awareness campaigns on snow leopard conservation, and the team will conduct biodiversity monitoring over 260,000 ha to assess snow leopard occupancy and other endangered species, alongside livestock assessments to inform conservation policy and management.
EUROPE:
STRENGTHENING PROTECTION OF TÜRKIYE’S GOKOVA BAY, ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL MARINE PROTECTED AREAS
Zafer Kizilkaya (2017 Whitley Gold Award winner) | Türkiye
Zafer’s pioneering work to protect Türkiye’s Gokova Bay, one of the most ecologically important marine areas in the Mediterranean, has been recognised as among the most successful Marine Protected Area models globally. One of the most overfished and degraded seas on earth, temperatures in the Mediterranean are rising 20 percent faster than elsewhere. Warmer waters have attracted invasive species which could exceed 30 percent of total biomass by 2030.
The Mediterranean Conservation Society (MCS), of which Zafer is president and founder, created Türkiye’s first community-led marine conservation model in Gokova Bay. That included coastal fishing cooperatives, establishing No Fishing Zones and initiating the country’s first co-managed Fishery Restricted Area. The team introduced a marine ranger system to patrol the reserves against illegal activities. MCS has since scaled to cover seascape restoration across 310 miles of coastline and extended protection to over 160 square miles of new marine areas. Since the team organised the first-ever filming of bottom trawling for the film Ocean with David Attenborough, an EU Court has ruled that Marine Protected Areas must be protected from bottom trawling.
With Continuation Funding, Zafer aims to deepen and expand protection in Gokova Bay and designate 1,000 ha of No-Fishing zones and 20,000 ha of Fisheries Restricted Areas. This will be supported by improved enforcement and real-time surveillance using Earth Ranger and Skylight technology. The team will restore seagrass beds, reefs and degraded benthic habitats, giving special attention to areas impacted by bottom trawling. Invasive marine species, which include lionfish and rabbit fish, will be promoted as marketable seafood, supporting local fisheries and building on partnerships with more than 30 restaurants which now promote invasive species as sustainable food.
PROTECTING WETLANDS IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
Karen Aghababyan (2007 Whitley Award winner) | Armenia, Georgia, and Türkiye
With only a few hundred left in existence, the Anatolian Mountain Crane is on the brink of extinction. Karen and BirdLinks Armenia are continuing their critical action for wetland ecosystems in Armenia, Georgia, and Türkiye to ensure the survival of this unique subspecies. Wetland conservation is particularly critical in Central Asia, as these habitats form key routes for migratory birds moving into Asia and Africa for their wintering grounds. Beyond avian conservation, wetlands also serve as vital sources of freshwater.
With previous WFN funding, the team have already succeeded in decreasing wetland pollution and in developing data on the various threats facing wetlands and waterbirds, such as drainage and severe degradation, and Public Hunting Lands overlapping with areas of international conservation concern.
With Continuation Funding, they’ll work on wetland protection and restoration at the policy level in the project’s three countries – including the valuation of Ecosystem Services and wetlands’ capacity to store carbon in decision making at the national, municipal, and community levels. The team will call for an assessment of the global conservation status of the Anatolian Mountain Crane Grus with the IUCN and develop national action plans that include scaled-up wetland restoration for their recovery. In Karen’s native Armenia, they plan to exclude critical habitat zones for these cranes and other species from legal public hunting areas, whilst providing local hunters with alternatives. They will launch the Community Protected Landscape in the Armash wetlands, home to 100 breeding bird species and visited by over one million migratory waterbirds, and look to implement this beneficial model for both people and nature in the community lands of Khor Virap Marshes. With these changes underway, they’re aiming for responsible birdwatching to attract 3,000 birding tourists to Armenia, as well as a considerable number in Georgia and Türkiye. By safeguarding the network of wetland habitats along migratory bird routes, this project will sustain the natural systems that are vital not only for wildlife but also for the millions of people who depend on them.
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