The Official College of Biologists of Murcia (COBRM) has awarded its “Special Recognition” award to the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment for the work carried out in the field of the environment. With this award, which celebrates its fourteenth edition, it is intended to highlight the support and backing that the Biodiversity Foundation grants for the development of projects executed by various entities in the sector in the Region of Murcia.
In this edition of the COBRM awards, the “Luís Ramírez for environmental awareness” award has also been presented, instituted in tribute to the memory of the biologist and professor of Ecology at the University of Murcia, and which has fallen in its ninth edition to Miguel Ángel Esteve Selma, professor at the University of Murcia, where he teaches Ecology.
Both awards have been awarded by the COBRM at the proposal of its Environment and Natural Resources Commission. The awards ceremony was held in Murcia and the person in charge of collecting the award on behalf of the Biodiversity Foundation was its director, Sonia Castañeda, who thanked “the recognition of the work done by all the people who work at the Biodiversity Foundation, where we have been working for almost 20 years for the conservation of our natural heritage. This is also a recognition of the work of the more than 200 entities with which we collaborate annually. Without their knowledge and work in the territory, the foundation would not be able to meet its conservation objectives.”
RECOGNITION OF THE DEFENSE OF THE ENVIRONMENT
The Official College of Biologists of Murcia, which brings together professionals specializing in the environment, among other disciplines, intends, with the annual granting of these awards, to recognize and encourage initiatives in favor of environmental care in the Region of Murcia. For its part, the Luis Ramírez Award recognizes the work of people, institutions or groups that have stood out for their work in the dissemination of public environmental awareness, preferably in the Region.
To date, some of the winners for their support of the Murcian environment have been the Environmental Education Association of the Region of Murcia (ASEARM), the Energy Management Agency of the Region of Murcia (ARGEM), the Economic and Social Council of the Region of Murcia (CES), the Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) of the Civil Guard or the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Program (EME).
For its part, the Luís Ramírez Award for Environmental Awareness has gone in previous years to ANSE, Ecologists in Action or the Naturalist Association for the Research and Defense of the Altiplano (ANIDA), among others.
ALMOST 2 MILLION EUROS IN RECENT YEARS
The Biodiversity Foundation, through its calls for grants, has invested, since 2011, about 2 million euros in conservation projects in the Region of Murcia. Thus, for example, entities such as the Chelonia Association, the Columbares Association or the Southeast Naturalists Association (ANSE), are currently working on projects supported by the Biodiversity Foundation, whose objectives are, among others, the conservation of species such as the Caretta caretta, the recovery of the eel or the recovery of sandy areas and coastal lagoons in the southeastern area of the Iberian Peninsula.
