Two champions of Amazon Rainforest conservation have been awarded the inaugural Thomas E. Lovejoy Prize at the United Nations biodiversity summit, COP16, currently underway in Cali, Colombia. The cash prize of $250,000 was awarded Oct. 29 to agronomy and forest engineer Marc Dourojeanni from Peru and Indigenous advocate Belén Páez from Ecuador. The prize is in honor of renowned ecologist Thomas Lovejoy, dubbed “the father of biodiversity.” Both award winners received a framed plaque with a distinctive bow tie under glass, a favorite accessory of the late Lovejoy’s when he wasn’t wearing muddy field clothes during his decades of Amazon research. Dourojeanni won the award for his 50 years of work creating Peru’s protected area system, including the iconic Manu National Park. He has been a mentor to two generations of conservationists in the region and has served in leadership roles with the University San Martín de Porres, ProNaturaleza, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the World Commission on Protected Areas, and the Inter-American Development Bank. “Life is only worthwhile and interesting if it is about fighting for something more than just yourself,” Dourojeanni said in his acceptance speech. “It is only worthwhile if you feel useful and… what better than helping the Amazon?” Co-winner Belén Páez has focused on climate change and post-extractive industry transitions across Ecuador and Peru, contributing to victories for the protection of forests and Indigenous territorial rights in the Ecuadorian Amazon. As the general secretary of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative, she led systemic transitions that echoed across the…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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