Announcement
2nd Virginia McKenna Award for Compassionate Conservation
The Born Free Foundation has, at its heart, the interface between animal welfare and conservation, and is keen to promote its agenda of Compassionate Conservation, where the welfare of individual animals is a central consideration in conservation actions.
The Award of US$1000 will be made annually by the Born Free Foundation, in consultation with our network of Compassionate Conservation partners, including the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), on the basis of applications submitted for review.
This Award is intended to provide support and recognition for researchers, practitioners, organisations and projects that promote and develop the consideration of animal welfare in conservation practice.
Interested parties should submit a 1000 word overview of the project, detailing in particular the relevance to animal welfare and conservation, by 31st Jan 2013.
The project overview should include all of the following:
Expected outcome – aims/objectives and how your project will benefit animal welfare and conservation. Detailed methods, including and plans for evaluating the effectiveness of the project. A schedule of project activities. - Names, nationalities and affiliations of individuals directly involved in the proposed project. A budget breakdown, with costs itemised in pounds sterling (£) or US dollars ($). Support from other sources (please specify the amount and whether received or whether applications are pending).
Shortlisted applicants will then be asked to complete a more detailed application, for submission by 31st March 2013.
Compassionate Conservation Workshop, London 29-30th November 2012
On 29-30th Nov 2012, an invited group of international experts and practitioners in animal welfare and conservation met at the Royal Geographical Society in London to further develop a practical framework for Compassionate Conservation. The meeting was coordinated by the Born Free Foundation and followed on from the hugely successful Compassionate Conservation Symposium, held at the University of Oxford in 2010. The meeting involved consideration of decision-making in conservation, the role of legislation and the tensions between animal welfare, animal rights and conservation theory and practice. The meeting participants have agreed to work together over the coming months to create, as far as possible, the basis for an effective and useful framework to guide future decisions and actions taken in the name of conservation, and to ensure that animal welfare is given greater consideration as a key component in conservation. This exciting work is ongoing.
Announcement
First Virginia McKenna Award for Compassionate Conservation Announced
Heartfelt congratulations to Shivani Bhalla of the Ewaso Lions Project on being awarded the first Virginia McKenna Award for Compassionate Conservation! The award, sponsored by the Born Free Foundation, is intended to provide support and recognition for researchers, practitioners, organisations and projects that promote and develop the consideration of animal welfare in conservation practice. Shivani was selected to receive the award for her work with local communities to conserve lions and other large carnivores in northern Kenya by reducing conflict and helping them understand the importance of lions and other wildlife.
Shivani Bhalla being presented with the award
by Iregi Mwenja from Born Free Kenya
Coming Soon
- Details of Compassionate Conservation event for late 2012
- Details of how to apply for the 2nd Virginia McKenna Award for Compassionate Conservation
Compassionate Conservation Guiding Principles
Since the groundbreaking Compassionate Conservation Symposium in Oxford in 2010, we have been working with a group of key individuals to develop the following Guiding Principles for Compassionate Conservation. We hope that you will join us in signifying your support:
RECOGNISING that wild animals, whether free-ranging or in captivity, may be affected by the intentional or unintentional actions of humans as well as the natural processes within ecosystems and the wider environment;
CONCERNED that many human activities, including those undertaken for a conservation purpose, may directly or indirectly cause harm to individual wild animals, populations, species, or ecosystems;
RECOGNISING that both conservation and wild animal welfare should implicitly respect the inherent value of wild animals and the natural world, and that both disciplines should try to mitigate harms caused by humans to other species;
BELIEVING that all harms to wild animals should be minimised wherever and to the extent possible, regardless of the human intention and purpose behind them;
PROPOSING that the principles and actions that underpin Compassionate Conservation, by combining consideration of animal welfare and conservation, will lead to a reduction in harm and in the suffering of individual wild animals, and will improve conservation outcomes;
THE UNDERSIGNED:
BELIEVE that we can accomplish more than could be achieved by applying either animal welfare or conservation practices without consideration of and, where appropriate, application of the other;
AND AGREE THAT we shall, in our professional lives, seek to: identify, enhance and promote the commonalities between animal welfare and conservation; pursue, to the extent possible, best practice in these disciplines; and thereby work to achieve shared principles and undertake practical Compassionate Conservation actions.
If you would add your name as a signatory, please send an email with your full title, name and affiliation, and whether you are willing for your name to appear on this website, to info@compassionateconservation.org
The Born Free Foundation is an international
wildlife charity working throughout the world to stop individual wild
animal suffering and protect threatened species in the wild. www.bornfree.org.uk
Founded in 1986, WildCRU was the first university-based conservation
research unit in Europe. WildCru's mission is to achieve practical
solutions to conservation problems through original scientific research. www.wildcru.org