UNESCO’S Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) announces laureates of Young Scientists and Michel B

The laureates of the 2012 Young Scientists Awards and of the Michel Batisse Award were announced Thursday by the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO (MAB) during their meeting (9 to 13 July) in Paris.

Since 1989, the Man and the Biosphere Programme has been awarding yearly scholarships of up to US$5,000 to ten young researchers, to encourage them to work on ecosystems, natural resources and biodiversity. Since 2010 two special fellowships financed by the Austrian MAB Committee are also being awarded. The 2012 laureates and their projects are:

A.D. Martial Kiki (Benin): Managing conservation conflict around Biosphere Reserve of Pendjari in Benin; 

Ricio Hiraldo Lopez-Alonso (Senegal): Opportunities and challenges to sustainable mangrove ecosystem governance in the Sine-Saloum delta Biosphere Reserve; 

Nouran Mohamed Saeed (Egypt): Impacts of human-induced disturbances on the biodiversity of Omayed biosphere reserve in Egyot: Implications for sustainable planning and management; 

Anoumou Kemavo (Togo): Contribution to the development of an administrative plan for the Oti-Keran/Oti-Mamdour Biosphere Reserve; 

Natalia Stryamets (Ukraine): Sustainable forest management within biosphere reserve territories — challenges and opportunities; 

Kabran Aristide Djane (Cote d'Ivoire): Modeling the enviroment of elementary school students of villages in the transition zone of the Tai National Park in Cote d'Ivoire: Theoretical and social issues; 

Purity Sabila Ajiningrum (Indonesia): Adaptation strategy and mitigation of biological resources management of local people in Lore Lindu Biosphere Reserve on climate change; 

Sathish Kumar V.M. (India): Developing stratefies and a regulation framework for the sustainable fishing of sea cucumbers in the Gulf of Manner Biosphere Reserve;

Fatou N’diaye (Senegal): Establishing a good governance strategy for the management of marine resources in the coastal, transborder biosphere reserve of the Senegal River Delta: The case of the St. Louis protected area;

Guindo Zeïnabou Maïga (Mali): Study of the effect of human activity on the crocodile ponds of Dianguidé (Boucle du Baoulé Biosphere Reserve);

Alexandra Shatkovskaya (Russian Federation): Ethno-landscape exhibition on the “Forefathers’ Path;”

Ancana Prathep (Thailand): Sea grass bed as carbon sinks in the Ranong Biosphere Reserve and Trang-Haad Chao Mai Marine National Park—the important role of sea grass.

The US$6,000-Michel Batisse Award was granted to Elizabeth Ines Taylor Jay(Colombia) for her case study on “Improving sustainable development and coral reef conservation through community-based watershed management in the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve.”

Biosphere reserves are designated in the framework of the UNESCO MAB Programme. They include land, coastal or marine ecosystems where innovative solutions allow for the combination of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. Five-hundred and ninety-eight MAB Reserves have been designated in 117 countries to date.