For the seventh Wangari Maathai Forest Champion (2024), applications are now being accepted.The Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award honors deserving people who have contributed to the preservation, restoration, and sustainable management of forests. In 2012, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) instituted the prize in honor of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai.
The Wangari Maathai Forest Champion award seeks a nominee who has demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in enhancing both the quality of life for those who depend on forests and the forests themselves.
Eligibility:
- Applicants should be nominated by a third party.
- Nominees may be individual persons, living or recently deceased.
- Professional and research contributions will only be considered if they are conducted outside of work-related responsibilities.
- Applications received from a nominee’s family member or business partner are not eligible for consideration.
Funding: The awardee/s will receive a cash prize of $USD 20,000.
Spotlight: The awardee/s will receive travel support to participate in a prestigious international forest event. This will provide the recipient with the opportunity to present their ideas and work to a larger audience, gain visibility and build their network.
Selection criteria:
- The nominated candidates will be assessed by an expert jury on the following criteria:
- Impact on communities through reducing forest loss and/or increasing forest area and/or using sustainably grown wood and non-wood forest products and/or addressing human-wildlife conflicts in relation to forests.
- Innovative aspects of the work, level of innovation, including technical, social or financial innovation, application and feasibility of the innovative aspects.
- Empowerment of others, considering also social, gender and youth aspects, to act through strengthened networks, social commitment, outreach and/or improved recognition of value of forests.
- Transferability and scale, including local, national, regional, or global contexts and/or application in other countries or regions, including South-South cooperation and the work/activities scale.
