The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Audrey Azoulay, announced on 14 February 2019 the launch of nominations for the prestigious UNESCO Sultan Qaboos Prize for Environmental Conservation.

The prize will be awarded for the 15th time during the World Science Forum in Budapest, Hungary, from 20-23 November 2019. The prize is USD 100,000 and is allocated every two years.

The purpose is to afford recognition to outstanding contributions by individuals, groups of individuals, institutes or organizations who have contributed to environmental and natural resources research, environmental education and training, creation of environmental awareness through the preparation of environmental information materials and activities aimed at establishing and managing protected areas including in relation to sustainable tourism, such as Biosphere Reserves, natural World Heritage sites and UNESCO Global Geoparks.

For more information, visit the following link: https://en.unesco.org/mab/awards.

In 2017, the recipient of the Prize was The National Parks Board of Singapore, recognized by the Prize for its leading work on biodiversity in an urban environment combined with learning activities on biodiversity at all level of education. The National Parks Board also manages the Singapore Botanic Gardens that is listed as a World Heritage site.