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PRESS NOTE
International juries decide the 2007 BBVA Foundation Awards for
Biodiversity Conservation
Harold Mooney and Peter Raven, winners
of the BBVA Foundation Award for Scientific
Research in Ecology and Conservation Biology
 Both scientists are considered “architects of the modern science of
Biodiversity”
January 14, 2008. The juries of the BBVA Foundation Awards for Biodiversity
Conservation have announced their respective decisions in this third edition of the
scheme. The Award for Scientific Research in Ecology and Conservation Biology,
comprising 500,000 euros, has been granted ex aequo to leading scientists Harold
Mooney and Peter Raven.
The Award for Biodiversity Conservation projects in Latin America, with prize
money of 250,000 euros, goes to Mexican organization Grupo Ecológico Sierra
Gorda.
The BBVA Foundation Award for Knowledge Dissemination and Communication in
Biodiversity Conservation, with a prize of 80,000 euros, goes to the environmental
journalist Benigno Varillas.
The BVA Foundation Awards for Biodiversity Conservation, whose global prize
money of over one million euros is the highest of its kind internationally, seek to
recognize and support the work of the scientific community, organizations and
professionals devoting their energies to the central challenge of the 21st century
that is biodiversity conservation. These Awards exemplify the BBVA Foundation’s
commitment to the goals of sustainable development and an improved quality of
life for all citizens.
THE BBVA FOUNDATION AWARD FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN ECOLOGY AND
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
The international jury of the BBVA Foundation Award for Scientific Research in
Ecology and Conservation Biology have granted the award destined for the
contributions of scientists in any country that have significantly advanced the
boundaries of knowledge in this field to Harold Mooney (Paul S. Achilles
Professor of Environmental Biology at Stanford University) and Peter H. Raven
(Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden) “in recognition of their
outstanding contributions to understanding the evolutionary and coevolutionary processes that shape the adaptations of plants, the
communities they form, and the diversity and biogeography of those
communities, and how plants contribute to ecosystem function. Both
lead the world in their understanding of, and raising concerns about, the
loss of plant diversity through habitat destruction and invasive species,
and in seeking ways to prevent biodiversity loss”.
The contributions of these two eminent scientists have been vital to the shift in
perspective that has taken place in conservation biology research, away from a
species-centered approach to one based on ecosystems and the services they
provide to humanity.
The jury also singled out their joint contribution to improving knowledge and
awareness regarding loss of biodiversity due to habitat destruction and the action
of invasive species, along with their invaluable work in the search for strategies
to halt this loss.
In the last 50 years, human beings have transformed their environment with
greater speed and intensity than at any other time in history. Scientists estimate
that 60% of the services supplied by ecosystems under study have suffered some
degradation or are being used unsustainably, including fresh water, fisheries, air
and water purification, the regulation of regional and local climate or protection
against natural risks and epidemics. As regards biodiversity, many species have
been found to be undergoing a reduction in population size and dispersal areas,
and it is reckoned that between 10% and 30% of mammal, bird and amphibian
species are currently under threat of extinction.
Mooney and Raven have demonstrated that species adaptations and interactions
are the two phenomena that shape ecosystems and modulate their responses to
climate change and the pressure exerted by human activity. Another major
achievement of the two researchers, considered the “architects of the modern
science of Biodiversity”, has been the training of the first generation of scientists in
this area.
Harold Mooney is considered the leading voice in the biology of global change.
His work has been instrumental in incorporating biology into the study of global
environmental issues, including climate change, biodiversity loss and the action of
invasive species. From his involvement in the International Biological Program in
1970 to his position as co-chair of the scientific panel of the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment – a program bringing together 1,300 scientists from 95 countries to
appraise the current state of planetary ecosystems – Mooney has championed the
idea that biodiversity is a key piece in ecosystem function.
Peter Raven is an eminent plant taxonomist and evolutionary biologist. Director
of the Missouri Botanic Garden, one of the world’s leading centers for botany
research and training, Professor Raven is the author of key contributions in the
biological sciences field; among them the co-evolution concept – the evolution of
two unrelated species that nevertheless maintain an intimate ecological
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relationship – which he formulated on the basis of his studies into butterflies and
the plants they feed on. A kind of “arm’s race” occurs between such species in
which the plants develop mechanisms to repel insects, and the latter evolve, in
turn, to overcome these new defenses.
Harold Mooney is currently the president of Diversitas while Peter Raven serves
on its Advisory Board. Diversitas is an international program set up by
intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations like UNESCO
that brings together scientists from all over the world to promote scientific
research on biodiversity. Its goal is to generate accurate scientific information and
predictive models of the status of biodiversity, and to find ways to support a more
sustainable use of the Earth’s resources.
Professors Harold Mooney and Peter Raven have each published over 400 scientific
papers. Mooney’s publications include 35 books edited or co-edited, and some
twenty articles in Science and Nature. In addition, his research has been cited in
over 12,000 scientific papers since 1988, earning him a place in the ISI’s
prestigious list of Highly Cited Researchers in Ecology and Environmental Sciences.
Peter Raven has authored over 450 articles in scientific journals and is editor or
co-editor of 18 books, some of which have become basic text books in plant
biology and environmental science. Raven has been cited in scientific papers on
more than 5,000 occasions.
The jury in the Award for Scientific Research in Ecology and Conservation Biology
was chaired by Carlos Duarte (Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies,
CSIC-University of the Balearic Islands) with members William C. Dennison
(University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, USA), Helena Freitas
(University of Coimbra, Portugal), Carlos Pedrós-Alió (Institute of Marine
Sciences, CSIC), Stuart L. Pimm. (Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth
Sciences, Duke University, USA and Iván Valiela (The Ecosystems Center, Marine
Biological Laboratory, USA).
BBVA FOUNDATION AWARD
LATIN AMERICA
FOR
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PROJECTS
IN
The jury of the BBVA Foundation Award for Biodiversity Conservation Projects
granted this prize to honor the work carried out by non-profit organizations to the
Management Program of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, led by Grupo
Ecológico Sierra Gorda, “for demonstrating that biodiversity conservation
generates wealth and well-being for the community”. This original,
innovative project, they underscored, has secured the achievement of important
environmental goals in parallel with an improvement in living conditions in the
zone.
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In 1999, the Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda set in train a co-management model
involving shared responsibilities between the Mexican Government and civil society
for the management of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve; the protected space
with the richest ecological diversity in all of Mexico with a total extension of
383,567 hectares. Because of its location between two distinct bio-geographical
regions, Sierra Gordo harbors 15 types and subtypes of vegetation, as well as over
1,800 vascular plant species, 124 fungi species and 550 vertebrates, including
protected species like the jaguar, black bear, Humboldt butterfly and military
macaw.
It is also among the areas of Mexico with the lowest development indicators: with
unemployment extending to 30% of the economically active population, an
illiteracy rate of 23%, and 79% of workers earning less than six dollars a day as
recently as the year 2001.
As the jury remarked in its verdict, the project has not only achieved quantifiable
results in the restoration of ecosystems and landscapes, it has also managed to
attract over half a million US dollars additional income from activities respectful of
the area’s biodiversity, which have benefited 108 resident communities. Further,
public investment in sustainable development and conservation has increased
767% since the year 2000. The project has also led to the construction and
improvement of sanitation systems and the opening of new wastewater treatment
plants.
Another arm of the project has been the start-up of the Sierra Gorda Earth Center,
offering courses and workshops to students from other Mexican states and Latin
American countries.
The jury of the Award for Biodiversity Conservation Projects was chaired by
Sergio Guevara (Instituto de Ecología, Mexico) with members Josep-María Gili
(Institute of Marine Sciences, CSIC), José Vicente de Lucio (University of Alcalá),
Nuria Marbà (Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, CSIC-University of
the Balearic Islands), Carlos Montes (Autonomous University of Madrid) and
Antonio Vercher (Supreme Court Coordinating Prosecutor for the Environment
and Urban Development). The Award for Biodiversity Projects in Spain was on
this occasion declared vacant.
BBVA FOUNDATION AWARD FOR KNOWLEDGE
COMMUNICATION IN BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
DISSEMINATION
AND
The BBVA Foundation Award for knowledge dissemination and communication of
the importance of conserving the planet’s biodiversity went to environmental
journalist Benigno Varillas. Founder of the magazines Quercus, dealing with
conservation biology, and El Cárabo, aimed at getting a younger public interested
in nature, Varillas was also the creator of the first Internet server offering
environmental content in the Spanish language.
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The award was granted to him “for the quality of his long and pioneering
professional career in the environmental communication field”. The jury
also underscored that Benigno Varillas has created a new school in the
communication of ecological and nature conservation values in Spain.
The jury of the BBVA Foundation Award for Knowledge Dissemination and
Communication in Biodiversity Conservation was chaired by Miguel Delibes de
Castro (Doñana Biological Station, CSIC) with members Alberto Aguirre de Cárcer
(ABC newspaper), Gustavo Catalán (El Mundo newspaper), Montserrat Gomendio
(National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC), Begoña Peco (Autonomous
University of Madrid) and Malén Ruiz de Elvira (El País newspaper).
For further information, contact the BBVA Foundation
Press Office on +34 915 376 615 or +34 944 874 627
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