Malawian conservationist nominated for Tusk Award
Nkhotakota-based conservationist Force Ngwira has been nominated for the 2018 prestigious Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa that comes with a K38.3 million grand prize.
The conservationist has been shortlisted alongside two other conservationists Dickson Kaelo from Kenya and Vincent Opyene from Uganda.
According to information available on tuskawards.com, presentation of the awards will take place in November in London.
In an interview, Ngwira, who fights deforestation and overfishing, said he was excited to have been nominated having worked hard with communities to preserve nature through his charity Ripple Africa.
“As Ripple Africa country director, together with my team, I have been responsible for planting eight million trees. In partnership with local fishers and their communities, the charity’s Fish for Tomorrow project has worked to restock and manage a 300-kilometre stretch of Lake Malawi,” he said.
Ngwira’s nomination, which comes after another Malawian Brighton Kumchedwa won it last year, underscores the efforts Malawi is taking in preserving nature.
On his part, Kumchedwa, who is National Parks and Wildlife director, described Ngwira’s nomination as a positive development.
“This is a great honour to us, it shows that as a country we are serious with conserving natural resources,” he said.
The conservation awards are run in partnership with Investech Asset Management and Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge.
They are given to a distinguished individuals for their outstanding dedication and exceptional contribution to conservation in Africa.
Writing on the award site, Prince William, Royal Patron of Tusk, said the awards are an important initiative with which he was proud to have been involved since its inception.
