HCM City  — Dr Đào Thị Nga, co-founder and director of the Center for Water Resources Conservation and Development (WARECOD), a Vietnamese non-governmental organisation, was among 15 Biodiversity “Hotspot Heroes” to be honoured on September 4 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress.

The conservationists, selected by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), will receive their awards at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, for their outstanding contribution to the conservation of biodiversity hotspots.

Dr. Nga was selected as the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot Hero from among the fund’s more than 2,000 grantee organisations around the globe.

As director of WARECOD, she has been instrumental in piloting community co-management of fisheries in Việt Nam, working with indigenous people and other local communities in the north of the country to develop working models that can inform policy development and lead to wider replication.

Since 2009, CEPF has supported these efforts, which has resulted in the establishment of demonstration models and the adoption of regulations on co-management of aquatic resources by the Tuyên Quang Provincial Government.

The only Southeast Asian among the 15 award winners, Dr. Nga said in an interview with IUCN that WARECOD’s goal was to promote the sustainable use of Việt Nam’s water resources and gender equality in resource use and management.

“Over the last 10 years, I have helped develop strategies for the organisation and worked hard to make sure all of our activities are in line with our mission and vision. I have also trained young staff and helped them to enthusiastically work with communities and authorities in our projects,” Nga said.

She said that the grants from CEPF had allowed her organisation to fulfill its mission and follow its dreams.

The other award winners, including five women, were from Bhutan, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Dominican Republic, Ghana, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Panama, Peru, Tunisia, Solomon Islands and South Africa.

CEPF aims to protect Earth’s most biologically rich yet threatened areas. IUCN is leading the second phase (2013-2018) of CEPF’s funding work in the Indo-Burma region, working together with Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, and the Myanmar Environment Rehabilitation-Conservation Network to form the CEPF Regional Implementation team (RIT). – VNS