Vultures fly off with awards

Vulture Conservation Hugs the Limelight at National Conservation Day in Nepal

23 September 2010 (Kathmandu) – The Vulture Conservation Programme of Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), a partner of Birdlife International won three of the eight awards offered on this day. The Community Managed Vulture Safe Zones of Nawalparasi and Rupandehi, both projects of BCN, shared the Abraham Conservation Award (organization). Similarly, Mr. Hirulal Dangaura, Monitoring and Education Assistant, BCN won the Abraham Conservation Award (individual). This award was established by the WWF to recognize and honor people and organizations at the grass-root level that have made significant contribution to conserving Nepal’s rich biodiversity since the year 1995. Mr. Anand Chaudhary, Vulture Conservation Programme Officer at BCN won the Mathew Preece and Yeshi Choden Lama Young Conservation Leader Award. This award was established in 2007, in memory of two young conservationists who passed away along with 24 other conservation leaders in a helicopter crash on September 23, 2006. “These Awards are like the Oscars for the conservation sector in Nepal,” says Dr. Hum Gurung, Chief Executive Officer of BCN, “and this year’s awards recognize the good work being done in the Vulture Safe Zones by BCN with the collaboration of Nepal Government, local community, veterinary professionals and international community.”