Maj. Gen. Singh gets top Dutch conservation award
Guyana Chronicle
June 1, 2004
EXECUTIVE Director of Conservation International, Major General (rtd) Joe Singh, is one of nine conservationists awarded the prestigious Order of the Golden Ark by His Royal Highness, Prince Bernhard of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, for outstanding contribution to nature conservation.
Singh, Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) from 1990 to 2000, and Executive Director of Conservation International since August 2001, was among the nine who were honoured at a ceremony at the Soestdijk Palace, at Baarn, outside of Amsterdam on May 7 last.
A statement from Conservation International indicated that Maj. Gen. Singh was accompanied to the ceremony by his wife Carolyn, and the CI representative in The Netherlands, Pieter Borkent, and his wife Helen.
Established in 1971 by Prince Bernhard, the Order of the Golden Ark recognizes the world’s most distinguished conservationists. An official order of the Dutch Government, it is the only national order in the world dedicated to nature conservation.
Maj. Gen. Singh was one of five accorded the title of Officer of the Golden Ark, one step above knighthood, and four were awarded the title of Knight of the Order.
Since 1971, some 300 persons have been invested in the Order of the Golden Ark and Prince Bernhard decides personally who will be inducted in the Order.
Maj. Gen. Singh, who is the second Guyanese to be so honoured, following Sir Shridath Ramphal, joins a luminary list of recipients. The list includes Sir David Attenborough, Richard Leakey, Jane Goodall, Sir Edmund Hillary, Dr Sylvia Earle, Dr Norman Myers, President Nelson Mandela and the late President Julius Nyerere, and distinguished leaders of conservation NGOs such as the World Wide Fund for Nature and Conservation International.
According to the statement, Maj. Gen. Singh had integrated his interest in the conservation field with his career while in uniform and benefited immensely from expeditions in which he has been involved for over four decades and through his association with the remote Amerindian communities, the state sector, the EPA, the National Trust, the Heritage Society, among others.