Posted on March, 07 2014

WWF honoured the work of nine organizations in Nepal that played an instrumental role in achieving this second year of zero poaching through the WWF Leaders for a Living Planet award.

The award was jointly presented by the president of WWF International Yolanda Kakabadse and the Director General of WWF International Jim Leape amidst a ceremony organized in Chitwan on 5th March 2014.

The organizations who have been honored were Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park, Nandabox Battalion, Ranadal Company and Narsinghadal Battalion of Nepal Army, Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police, Buffer zone management committees of Chitwan National Park and Bardia National Park, and the National Trust for Nature Conservation.

WWF’s greatest strength is its people who together strive for a living planet to achieve conservation success and sustainable development. “Leaders for a Living Planet” award highlights these champions for the environment, recognizes their contribution, while profiling conservation success and, above all, showing what can be achieved and inspiring others to take up the challenge to secure a living planet.

Nepal added a new conservation milestone of achieving zero poaching of rhinos, tigers and elephants with an announcement on World Wildife Day last week.

This is the second time that Nepal celebrated zero poaching, the first being in 2011.

A achievement is the result of strengthened protection and enforcement efforts led by the government and supported by its conservation partners such as WWF and the National Trust for Nature Conservation.

Trans-boundary cooperation with India and China, and regional mechanisms such as the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network as well as more coordination between park authorities, Nepal's army and police and local communities are at the forefront of combating poaching and illegal wildlife trade.