On 30 April, the Whitley Fund for Nature announced the six conservation leaders receiving the Whitley Awards 2025. The Whitley Awards ceremony—the flagship event of the UK-based charity—was held at the Royal Geographical Society and was also broadcast online.

The awards are worth GBP 50,000 each in project funding over 1 year. The 2025 Whitley Award Winners are Yara Barros, Brazil (Big cat coexistence: Conserving jaguars in Iguaçu National Park); Reshu Bashyal, Nepal (Healing Forests: Safeguarding medicinal plants in Nepal); Andrés Link, Colombia (Canopy corridors: Reconnecting brown spider monkeys in Colombia); Rahayu Oktaviani, Indonesia (Calling for community: Saving the song of the Javan gibbon); Nurzhafarina Othman, Malaysia (Connecting landscapes for Bornean elephants in Sabah); and Federico Pablo Kacoliris, Argentina (The Guardians of Somuncurá Plateau’s Biodiversity).

In addition, a Whitley Award alumnus is chosen to receive the Whitley Gold Award in recognition of their outstanding contribution to conservation. Worth GBP 100,000, this top prize was presented to 2018 Whitley Award winner Olivier Nsengimana and his team at the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association. They have led work to rebuild the grey crowned crane population and protect its wetland habitat in Rwanda. This award will support Olivier and his team to expand their community-led efforts and secure protection for this iconic species across East Africa. In just 1 decade, the Association has halted illegal trade of this species in Rwanda and has returned every captive bird to the wild. They have overseen growth in the grey crowned crane population from an estimated 300 in the wild in 2015 to 1,293 in 2025. Habitat loss is now the key threat to the species, mainly a result of agricultural encroachment. The Association’s expansion will be modelled on Rwanda’s successful protection of mountain gorillas via transboundary cooperation, and aims to create a political framework for wetland conservation in Tanzania and Uganda. With the Whitley Gold Award, Olivier’s team will also boost training for the 75 community rangers at Rugezi Marsh (home to one quarter of Rwanda’s population of grey crowned cranes), increase awareness to promote the wise use of wetlands, and bolster training for community conservation champions safeguarding the crane populations. This will provide climate resilience for communities in Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.

The Whitley Fund for Nature was established to accelerate the work of grassroots conservationists and has funded more than 220 conservationists in Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia since it was founded by Edward Whitley OBE over 30 years ago. It has awarded over GBP 24 million in conservation grants. By including local people as stakeholders in protecting ecosystems, today’s conservationists are helping the most vulnerable people tackle climate change, land grabs, food insecurity and water scarcity.

Whitley Fund for Nature has a long-term commitment to conservation leaders. Winners can apply for Continuation Funding grants worth up to GBP 100,000 over 2 years to scale up their work or respond to new threats. Winners also gain lifelong membership to the global alumni network, giving them access to like-minded leaders, training opportunities and further support.

For more information on the Whitley Awards or how to apply, visit whitleyaward.org.