BP is pleased to announce that Shahin Isayev, an MSc student from Baku State University and his team have been awarded a Conservation Leadership Programme Follow-up grant of $24,700 to determine the current condition of the imperial eagle and the lesser kestrel and to prepare a distribution pattern in Azerbaijan. The award is part of BP Group’s support for Azerbaijan’s biodiversity through the Conservation Leadership Programme (formerly known as BP Group Conservation Programme) and for this project the team will work in collaboration with the Azerbaijan Ornithological Society.
“This is the second grant the team from Azerbaijan has received from BP’s Conservation Leadership Programme and it is an indication of the high level at which they are now working,” says Paul Herbertson, a Conservation Leadership Programme Officer.
The project will be carried out by a team of six people, as well as Baku State University’s geography and biology faculties’ student volunteers. The survey will encompass a large geographical area.
“As part of this project supported by BP we will conduct a survey to study the habitat of the imperial eagle over a mountainous area 200 km in length from the Balakan district to the Ismayilli district whilst, since the migratory lesser kestrel inhabits valleys, another survey will be conducted in valley areas,” says Shahin Isayev.
The Conservation Leadership Programme is a partnership between BP, BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora International, Conservation International and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The initiative has been running since 1985. The partners share a common concern for, and a commitment to, our natural environment and its constituent biodiversity. The annual awards aim to develop leadership potential in a new generation of conservation professionals and address global conservation priorities at a local level by assisting and encouraging teams of young people to undertake important conservation projects globally.
This year projects will be carried out with the programme’s grants in 19 countries and a total of 26 teams have received grants. As part of the award one member of each team went to South Africa from June 21st to July 6th this year. Here they participated in an international training course and represented their projects at the annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB). Establishing contact with the SCB annual meeting helps the participants join a more powerful professional network and in future engage in international cooperation.
For further information please see the link below.
Notes for editors: So far BP has supported a number of important biodiversity initiatives in Azerbaijan. These initiatives include a tortoise conservation project, a study of the fish in the zone of Sangachal Bay, a survey of plants and animals along existing and planned pipelines, as well as a joint plan for the development of a convention on biodiversity with the Caspian Environmental Programme. BP submits information on the environment and biodiversity to the other Caspian littoral states via the Caspian Environmental Programme with the aim of ensuring broader use of information. BP also supports a project to protect and restore the Tugay forests in Azerbaijan. This project is implemented in cooperation with the Environmental and Natural Resources Ministry and Azerbaijanian experts.
Notes for editors: So far BP has supported a number of important biodiversity initiatives in Azerbaijan. These initiatives include a tortoise conservation project, a study of the fish in the zone of Sangachal Bay, a survey of plants and animals along existing and planned pipelines, as well as a joint plan for the development of a convention on biodiversity with the Caspian Environmental Programme. BP submits information on the environment and biodiversity to the other Caspian littoral states via the Caspian Environmental Programme with the aim of ensuring broader use of information. BP also supports a project to protect and restore the Tugay forests in Azerbaijan. This project is implemented in cooperation with the Environmental and Natural Resources Ministry and Azerbaijanian experts.
Tamam Bayatly at BP’s Press Office in Baku, telephone: +994 12 599 4557 or
Shahin Isayev and the Azerbaijan Ornithological Society at 050 6329829