Conservation International (CI) hosted its fifth annual ‘Biodiversity Reporting Award’ presentation ceremony on Friday and for the fourth year in a row, Stabroek News claimed the top prize.

Stabroek News senior reporter Miranda La Rose won the first prize for her article ‘Iwokrama canopy walkway to attract tourists, researchers’ from a total of 22 entries submitted by 11 local journalists.

La Rose, who also placed first in 2000, won an all expenses paid trip to the Society of Environmental Journalists Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana; a journalistic kit and a plaque.

Two-time winner... For the second time since Conservation International (CI) launched its ‘Biodiversity Reporting Award,’ Stabroek News senior reporter Miranda La Rose has taken first prize. She previously won in 2000. This will also mark the fourth consecutive `first place’ win for Stabroek News with earlier prizes going to journalists, Matt Falloon (2001) and Andrew Richards (2002).

CI President Dr Russell Mittermeier (right) presents La Rose with the winning plaque. Included in the winner’s package is an all-expenses-paid trip to this year’s Society of Environmental Journalists’ Annual Conference in New Orleans.

The second place went to Nicola Waldron of Kaieteur News who wrote ‘Shell Beach - One of Guyana’s Proposed Protected Areas’ and Neil Marks of the Guyana Chronicle placed third with his piece, ‘Shanklands: From Wild West to Paradise.’ Waldron and Marks are the recipients of $60,000 and $30,000 respectively and they will each receive a journalistic kit and plaque.

Honourable mention and achievement certificates were given to Sharon Lall of the Guyana Review for ‘Consultation or Confrontation’ and Oscar P. Clarke of Stabroek News for ‘Mangroves: Natural De-fenders Against the Sea.’

Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief David de Caires, in his feature address entitled ‘Conserving whose heritage?’ cast some doubts on the worst fears of the green lobby, citing the controversial book Sceptical Environmentalist by Danish statistician Bjorn Lomborg. The author blows a number of holes in arguments that species are dying off so quickly or that the disappearance of the world’s rainforests is the catastrophe many make it out to be. Lomborg states that contrary to the myth of the rainforests being the lungs of the earth they actually produce as much carbon dioxide through decaying biomass, as oxygen.

de Caires observed that the cost to Guyana of ‘green’ timber production was already enormous and the onerous environmental restrictions could restrict the country’s development.

He also noted that for the large majority of Guyanese the interior of the country remained an abstraction. He urged CI to help the government, perhaps through field trips and documentary films, to ensure that more Guyanese were made aware of the country’s natural resources. “One cannot be interested in preserving a heritage of which one is not aware.”

CI President Dr Russell Mittermeier revealed that Guyana still possessed at least 80 per cent of its natural vegetation and along with its eastern neighbour Suriname, had the highest per capita of renewable water resources.

The ceremony, which took place at Hotel Tower, also served as a launching for Mittermeier’s book, Wilderness Areas: Earth’s Last Wild Places. He encouraged all journalists to become involved in high quality environmental journalism in biodiversity-rich countries.

According to CI Communications Manager, Lennox Cornette, the entries were judged by a panel of five distinguished international professionals including one Guyanese. He said Guyana was the only country to have participated in the contest since its inception in 1999.

The award is supported by the Virginia W. Cabot Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Robert Dryfoos Charitable Trust.

In 2001 and last year respectively, Stabroek News reporters Matt Falloon and Andrew Richards won the first prize for this competition.