Conservation Fraternity commends Prof. Oteng-Yeboah

Professor Alfred Oteng-Yeboah, Chair of Ghana National Biodiversity Committee, was on Monday honoured by the Conservation Civil Society Organistions Fraternity for winning the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity, 2014.

The Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS), Conservation Alliance and AROCHA Ghana, on behalf of the fraternity, presented a citation to Prof. Oteng-Yeboah at a ceremony in Accra to congratulate him.

Prof. Oteng-Yeboah, also the Head of Botany at the University of Ghana, together with two other nominees from Argentina and India, won the award which is organised biennially.

The MIDORI Prize honours three individuals who have made outstanding contributions to conservation and sustainable use at local and global levels, and who have developmentally influenced various biodiversity-related efforts as well as raising awareness about biodiversity.

It is an international prize organised by the AEON Environmental Foundation and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to honour those outstanding individuals.

Other winners of the 2014 prize are Dr Kamal Bawa, President of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment in India, and Dr Bibiana Vilá, Principal Researcher, National Research Council and Director of Vicuñas, Camelids and Environment of Argentina.

Each recipient was awarded a wooden plaque, a commemorative gift and a monetary prize of 100,000 US dollars to support their work in safeguarding biodiversity.

They were honoured at an Award Ceremony in October 2014 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The MIDORI Prize was established in 2010 to mark the International Year of Biodiversity. The year 2014 is the third time the MIDORI Prize is being awarded.

Mr Rueben Otoo, Acting Executive Director of Ghana Wildlife Society, said Prof Oteng-Yeboah had worked in the area of conservation and biodiversity consistently and sustainably for years not only in Ghana, but at the regional and international levels which had earned him such great award.

“The Conservation Fraternity wish to associate with Prof. Oteng-Yeboah for winning the Midori Award 2014,” he said.

Mr Yaw Osei Owusu, Director for Conservation Alliance, said the award was to recognised the contribution of the Professor and to inspire him and all others to do more at conserving the environment.

Prof Oteng-Yeboah thanked God and Ghana for giving him the exposure and to Africa for giving him the platform to represent the continent at the world level, in working together with like-mindedness to promote issues of biodiversity.

He charged the conservation fraternity to institute an annual event like a lecture where issues of biodiversity would be discussed to help educate the public on the state of the environment every year.