Many congratulations to CLP alumna @leticia.benavalli on her prestigious Marsh Award 🎉 👏 🎊
Every year, the Marsh Charitable Trust selects inspirational individuals for its Marsh Awards to celebrate the work being done to preserve and protect the planet's biodiversity.
CLP nominated Leticía for the Marsh Award for Early Career Conservation through our partner @faunafloraint to recognise the remarkable steps she's taken to conserve jaguar and other large mammals in the Cerrado (a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in central Brazil) - despite still being relatively early in her career.
The Cerrado provides crucial habitat for not just jaguar but also lowland tapir, puma and giant anteaters, which are threatened by climate change, habitat loss and conflict with local people in the region.
As part of a 2023 CLP project, Leticía and her team at her recently established NGO, the Pró-Onça Institute, have been conducting camera trap surveys in both Pirineus State Park and Brasilia National Park in the state of Goiás, central Brazil.
These surveys have revealed information critical to large mammal conservation in this region:
🐆 The first documented evidence of jaguar breeding in Pirineus State Park
🐆 Jaguar entering unprotected areas around Pirineus State Park more frequently than previously thought - showing how important it is to work with private landowners and other local community members to gain their understanding and support
🐆 An abundance of typical prey for jaguar, including tapir, marsh deer, giant armadillo and peccary, as well as evidence that giant anteaters and pumas are successfully breeding in Pirineus State Park
🐆 Unexpected footage of multiple jaguars in Brasilia National Park revealing an urban jaguar population resurgence in the region
Letícia's NGO, the Pró-Onça Institute, is not just dedicated to large carnivore conservation, but also to women’s empowerment in science and climate change mitigation across Latin America. Read more about her NGO here: proonca.org/
On selecting Letícia for the award, the Marsh Award Selection Panel commented: "Letícia’s clear focus on helping the mammals and local communities in the Brazilian Cerrado is admirable, and she has made great strides in allowing for both the protection of wildlife and a peaceful coexistence between predators and local farmers."
Read more about her CLP project here: www.conservationleadershipprogramme.org/project/local-communities-empowerment-as-a-driver-to-medi...
Please join us in congratulating Letícia and the other winners of the 2024 @marshawards, Ercilio Chauque and Dominggus Sami Kalami!
#WeAreCLP
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4 days ago
📢 Introducing our 2024 Conservation Follow-Up Awards 🏆
👉📽 Leap into Action: Saving Ghana's Puddle Frog 🐸
Building on a previous CLP project and the rediscovery of the Critically Endangered intermediate puddle frog in the Ankasa Conservation Area in Ghana, Francis Osei-Gyan and his team at Herp Conservation Ghana will combine scientific research with community involvement to protect the last population of this species and its only home.
"Important outcomes of this project include 20-acres of restored frog habitat, the first global population assessment of the species, a conservation needs assessment, and a conservation action plan." - Francis Osei-Gyan, Team Leader
Visit our website to learn more about this and our other 2024 award-winning projects: www.conservationleadershipprogramme.org/our-projects/latest-projects-2024
We thank Arcadia - a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin - for supporting this project.
We are also grateful to the CLP partnership of BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora and Wildlife Conservation Society.
#WeAreCLP #CLPAwards2024 #ConservationLeadership #ConservationGrants #Ghana
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4 days ago