3nd National Conservation Day Celebrated!

“For the sake of the lives we’ve lost…but a legacy that lives on"

The 3rd National Conservation Day was celebrated in Kathmandu under the leadership of the Government of Nepal and the support of the Conservation Consortium on 24th September 2011. To coincide with the International Year of Forests 2011, the theme for this year’s event was ‘Celebrating Forests for People’ in recognition of the central role of people in the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of the world’s forests.

Vice President of Nepal, Rt. Honorable Parmanand Jha was the Chief Guest of the event and Mr. Mohhamad Wakil Musalman, Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation, chaired the function.

On the occasion of National Conservation Day, WWF-Nepal felicitates leading organizations and individuals who have excelled in biodiversity conservation in Nepal each year through the Abraham Conservation Awards and Scholarship programs.

This year, the Abraham Conservation Awards were awarded to three individuals and two organizations in recognition of their contribution to grassroots level conservation. The award recipients were Mr. Bed Bahadur Khadka, Mr. Rajendra Singh Bhandari and Ms. Kalawati Chudhary in the individual category, and Shiv Community Forest and Alternatives Herbal Products Pvt. Ltd in the organization category.

Mr.Raj Bahadur Air received the Matthew Preece and Yeshi Lama Young Conservation Leader Award awarded in honor of Matthew Preece and Yeshi Lama for their life-long contribution to conservation.

Similarly, WWF Media in Conservation Awards, founded to recognize the transformational role of media persons or organizations in highlighting conservation issues in Nepal, were awarded to Ms. Pragati Shahi, reporter with The Kathmandu Post, Mr. Pramod Kumar Tandan, reporter with Naya Patrika Daily, and Hamro Sampada, a monthly magazine.

The Nepal Memorial Scholarships were awarded to John Lhomi Nuppa and Salina Rai while Bharat Prasad Bhatta and Kabita Poudyal received the Chandra Gurung Memorial Scholarships. Likewise, the Jill Bowling Schlaepfer Memorial Scholarships were awarded to Bal Kumar Nepali and Deepak Tharu Dahit while the Jennifer Headley Memorial Scholarships were awarded to Sabina Rijal and Yashodhara Chaudhary.

Two video documentaries of WWF-Nepal showcasing conservation impacts in the Sacred Himalayan Landscape and Terai Arc Landscape and five publications including a book on Late Dr. Tirtha Man Maskey titled Tirtha Man Maskey: The Tiger Warden of Chitwan were also formally launched at the event.

Speaking at the event, Jha stressed on the significance of biodiversity conservation which has been rapidly degraded in recent times due to human activities. He said human existence is directly linked with environment and it is our duty to preserve it.

Similarly, Rt. Honorable Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Mr. Mohhamad Wakil Musalman, expressed sincere gratitude to the Government of Nepal and consortium members for their commitment towards biodiversity conservation.

Anil Manandhar, Country Representative, WWF Nepal said that we have been able to follow the path which were envisioned by our conservation heroes and I believe all our conservation heroes looking at us from above are proud of us.

The program concluded with a contemporary performance 'The Tree of Life’ presented by Earth-Beat Nepali Theatre, in keeping with the theme of the day. The performance blended music, motion and messaging to celebrate the importance of forests for people, for wildlife, and for a living planet

The Government of Nepal declared Asoj 7 (23 September) as National Conservation Day in 2008 in memory of the Conservation Heroes who lost their lives in the tragic helicopter accident on 23 September 2006 at Ghunsa, Kangchenjunga..

National Conservation Day is led by a Conservation Consortium comprising WWF Nepal, Bird Conservation Nepal, Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness, The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, IUCN–The World Conservation Union, Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists, National Trust for Nature Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Nepal, and The Mountain Institute and Wildlife Watch Group under the leadership of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal.