RSPN receives MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions

PRESS RELEASE

The Royal Society for Protection of Nature Receives the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions (MACEI)

Thimphu, Wednesday January 19, 2010 – The Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN) received the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions (MACEI) today. RSPN is among eleven organizations from six countries to receive the MACEI award for its conservation works and its impacts in the country.

MacArthur Foundation’s President Robert Gallucci said that “These exceptional organizations effectively address pressing national and international challenges and they have had an impact that is disproportionate to their small size. The MacArthur Foundation is proud to recognize them. It is our hope that these Awards will help position them for long-term growth and even greater impact in the years ahead.”

RSPN was founded in 1986 by Dasho Paljor J. Dorji, the then minister for National Environment Commission as a non- profit, non-governmental organization. Since then, under the royal patronage of His Majesty the King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, RSPN has been working in the fields of nature conservation, environmental education and endangered species research. From water and natural resource management to alternative livelihoods and climate change issues, RSPN’s mission is to inspire personal responsibility for and active involvement in the conservation of the Kingdom’s environment through community action and education. Currently, RSPN works in four locations focusing on endangered species, habitat loss, forest and land degradation, water quality problems, and emerging concerns such as climate change and solid waste management.

The Awards recognize exceptional Foundation grantees and help ensure their sustainability with grants of $350,000. The Royal Society for Protection of Nature will use its $350,000 award to contribute to its endowment, create an operating reserve, and construct a public library and conference center

It is with great honour and pride that RSPN receives MACEI award for proven creativity and effectiveness in nature conservation in Bhutan. It only strengthens our commitment and inspiration to continue our conservation work to foster a sustainable natural environment nationally and in the region.

Related links:

External News:

Royal Society For Protection of Nature

RSPN receives MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions