A Ugandan national has been recognized in London,UK for his outstanding dedication and tremendous contribution to the conservation of nature in the country.
Achilles Byaruhanga was awarded by Prince William, the prince of Wales at the annual Tusk Conservation Awards ceremony held on Tuesday November 1, at London’s historic Hampton court palace.
The prestigious award ceremony hosted by broadcaster and author, Kate Silverton was in celebration of the unsung conservation heroes of Africa.
“Conservation is not an event. It’s a process that takes a long time and communities are crucial,” Byaruhanga remarked in his acceptance speech.
“We are connected with people. We see the overall power is with the people,” he added.
Byaruhanga is the Executive Director at Nature Uganda which boosts of 3,500 members and has programmes on awareness, education, research and monitoring on nature conservation.
Due to his efforts, Uganda ‘s wetlands are not longer wastelands but productive ecosystems for conservation, climate change mitigation and supporting local livelihoods.
Tusk Conservation Awards ceremony was launched in 2013 by Prince William who acts as the charity ‘s Royal patron.
Through the recognition and support given to the award recipients, Tusk conservation awards aims to raise the profile of African leaders to advance conservation and their significant impact in the field across Africa.
Prince William in his speech said: “ As sir David Attenborough reminded us at the ceremony 5 years ago, Africa’s wildlife is truly special.What the awards alumni, their dedicated teams and local communities are protecting is one of the great natural treasures of the world.”
“And yet, we also know that it is just a fragment of what there once was that is why it is vital that we do everything in our power to halt the frightening decline in species that our planet has witnessed over the last 50 years,” he added.
Other award winners included; Ian Craig (Kenya), Miguel Goncalves (Mozambique) and Neddy Mulimo (Zambia) and each of the four winners received a trophy specially crafted by Patrick Mavros, and all finalists received grants totalling £345,000 to continue their vital work.
