7 Bangladeshis receive Balipara Foundation Award

Balipara Foundation -- an Assam-based organisation in India working for conservation and sustainable livelihood -- recognised seven Bangladeshis for their outstanding conservation feat by awarding them Balipara Foundation Award.

Another eight received the same award from the South Asian region, including Bhutan and Nepal.

The award was accorded on the first day of the 10th Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics Forum, organised by Balipara Foundation at the auditorium of Independent University, Bangladesh yesterday.

Monirul H Khan, professor of Zoology at Jahangirnagar University, received The Late Latifur Rahman Naturenomics Award in memoriam of Latifur Rahman, founder chairman of Transcom Group, one of the leading figureheads behind ethical business in Bangladesh.

The rest of the awardees include Syeda Rizwana Hasan in the category of Green Legal Award and Mahfuz Ahmed Russel in the category of Rural Futures Rewild Award.

The Bangladesh Lifetime Award went to Golam Mainuddin for founding the largest private-sector-driven afforestation project with Bonayan Bangladesh. Delowar Jahan, co-founder of Prakritik Krishi Bipanan Kendra received the Food for the Future Award.

Meanwhile, Hawladar Azad Kabir, ranger & officer-in-charge of Karamjal Crocodile Breeding Center received the Forest Guards and Rangers Award.

Sir Partha Dasgupta, author of the landmark Economics of Biodiversity report for the UK treasury; and Dr Kamaljit Singh Bawa, president and founder of the environmental think tank Ashoka Trust Research in Environment and Ecology.

Prof Niaz Ahmed Khan was also awarded.

Ranjit Barthakur, founder of Balipara Foundation, said, "There has to be a shift in mindset and attitudes. Everything has to be biodiverse."

Lord Nicholas Stern, chairman of Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment of the London School of Economics (LSE), said, "The Eastern Himalayas is the centre-stage influencing more than a billion people in the region."

Ambassador Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary and Prime Minister's Special Envoy For Nuclear Affairs and Climate Change of India, said, "Today, we are at a point where climate change, biodiversity, and finance cannot be put in a single box; they have become more and more interconnected."