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UNESCO announces winners of Young Scientist Awards and Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management
The 2013 winners of the Young Scientists Awards and of the Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management have been announced by the International Co-ordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, which met at UNESCO鈥檚 Headquarters from 27 to 30 May.
The MAB programme has been granting awards of up to $5,000 each since 1989. These grants are intended to encourage young researchers to undertake work on ecosystems, natural resources and biodiversity. An additional two special awards have been financed by the Austrian MAB Committee since 2010.
The 2013 laureates are:
Julio Blas Garcia (Spain): Praying for the 鈥渨hite dove鈥: How do wildlife populations perceive massive human pilgrimages;
Angela Camargo (Mexico): An assessment of the effectiveness of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve to preserve populations and functionality of large bodied herbivorous mammals;
Bilal Habib (India): Design and Development of an Ecological Monitoring Programme in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Uttarakhand, India, involving local communities;
Hilaire Kouakou (C么te d鈥橧voire) Biodiversity protection project at the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve.
Atieh Kazemi Mojarad (Iran): Sustainable development of Biosphere Reserves through the promotion of key ecosystem services;
Claudia Munera (Nicaragua) : 鈥淏iocultural design鈥 as a framework to identify sustainability issues in Rio San Juan Bisosphere Reserve and Fortress of the Immaculate Conception, Nicaragua.
The $6,000 Michel Batisse Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management was attributed to Marisa Coetzee and Harry Biggs (South Africa) for their case study concerning the South African Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve.
Biosphere reserves are areas that promote innovative solutions to issues of conservation, ecology and sustainable development recognized as such by UNESCO鈥檚 MAB Programme. There are 621 MAB biosphere reserves in 117 today.
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Press contact: Agn猫s Bardon, Service de presse de l鈥橴NESCO. Tel: +33 (0) 1 45 68 17 64, a.bardon(at)unesco.org
