Bunaken park management and citizen's forum win UN prize<\/p>\n
or
\nSeven communities to receive U.N. prizes for fighting poverty,
\nconserving environment<\/p>\n
Associated Press
\nUnited Nations<\/p>\n
Seven tropical communities from around the world have been
\nawarded prizes for their work to reduce poverty while conserving
\nbiological wealth, the United Nations Development Programme
\n(UNDP) announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The UN Equator Prizes for 2004 went to Indonesia's Bunaken
\nNational Park board and Bunaken Concerned Citizens' Forum,
\nProyecto Nasa in Colombia, Mexico's Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo
\nSan Juan Parangaricutiro, GREEN Foundation in India, Rufiji
\nEnvironment Management Project in Tanzania, Namibia's Torra
\nConservancy and Brazil's Sociedade Civil Mamiraua.<\/p>\n
Each received an award worth US$30,000 at a ceremony in Kuala
\nLumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday, the closing day of a conference on
\nthe Convention on Biological Diversity.<\/p>\n
UNDP administrator Mark Malloch Brown said in a statement that
\nthe honorees and other communities and grassroots groups like
\nthem \"are at the forefront of efforts to forge a more sustainable
\nfuture for our planet.\"<\/p>\n
Their work demonstrates the success of partnerships among
\nindividuals, communities, governments and civic organizations at
\nimproving both local livelihoods and the environment, he said.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, the Bunaken National Park Management Advisory
\nBoard and Bunaken Concerned Citizens'Forum co-manage a protected
\nmarine area in North Sulawesi, balancing conservation with the
\nneeds of 30,000 people who live in the park.<\/p>\n
The Brazilian nongovernmental organization Sociedade Civil
\nMamiraua was honored for pioneering the creation of sustainable
\ndevelopment reserves within the Central Amazon Conservation
\nComplex, a biodiverse UNESCO World Heritage Site.<\/p>\n
The Tanzanian group Rufiji Environment Management Project
\npromotes long-term conservation in villages near the Selous Game
\nReserve, another World Heritage Site, by working with government
\nauthorities and local communities.<\/p>\n
Namibia's Torra Conservancy is a community-based program that
\ncovers 352,000 hectares (869,000 acres) in the country's
\nnorthwest and that has worked with private industry to found a
\nluxury tented lodge to promote ecotourism, among other
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
India's Genetic Resource, Energy, Ecology and Nutrition (or
\nGREEN) Foundation works with traditional agricultural knowledge
\nand with women's farming groups to create seed and gene banks and
\nother projects in the state of Karnataka.<\/p>\n
The Mexican indigenous community of San Juan Parangaricutiro,
\nwhich collectively owns 11,000 hectares of forest in the state of
\nMichoacan, maintains a wide range of environmentally friendly
\nforestry, timber and tourism enterprises.<\/p>\n
Indigenous people in Colombia's Proyecto Nasa manage 49,000
\nhectares partially inside the Nevada del Huila Biosphere Reserve
\nand manage to practice conservation despite the violence in their
\narea from the country's four-decade-long civil war.<\/p>\n
The Equator Initiative, launched in 2002, focuses on the
\ntropical regions and promotes worldwide efforts to reduce poverty
\nand conserve biodiversity. The prizes are awarded biannually by
\nthe UNDP and nine partner organizations.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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