Wildlife Trust Scientist Nicole Auil Wins 2005 Whitley Award for Manatee Research in Belize

Top Conservation Award Presented by HRH The Princess Royal at UK Ceremony

NEW YORK - April 21, 2005 - On April 20, a packed audience at the Royal Geographic Society in London watched as Wildlife Trust scientist Nicole Auil was awarded a 2005 Whitley Award by HRH The Princess Royal. The Whitley Award, often called the "Green Oscar," is the UK's top conservation prize. Auil has gained international recognition for her work to conserve Belize's threatened Antillean manatees.

Mary Pearl, president of Wildlife Trust, said of the announcement, "We are particularly excited about Nicole's award. Not only is it a strong recognition of her skills and achievement, it is also an investment in the future of a promising young conservation professional."

Since 1994, Whitley Awards have been awarded annually by UK-based conservation charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), and are now worth GBP ?30,000 each. The awards are one of the largest nature conservation awards available and recognize outstanding work by conservation leaders around the world fighting to safeguard the planet's resources and wildlife. WFN presented GBP ?1 million in awards and grants last year.

Nicole Auil said of the award, "I am very honored to be a Whitley Award recipient, and I am grateful for the opportunity it affords me to steer the project toward tangible benefits to stakeholders. I am very happy to be working with the WT team, particularly Buddy Powell, Martha Wells, and the project's field assistants Clifton Bailey and Kevin Andrewin. This is a team effort."

Speaking about the winners of the 2005 Whitley Awards, Sir David Attenborough, wildlife documentary broadcaster and Trustee of WFN, said, "People and their activities are often depicted as the cause of degradation to wilderness areas, but so too are they part of the solution.

"The Whitley Award Winners are geographically isolated from each other, but all demonstrate how it is local people who are critical to the success of conservation work. Through education, research, great personal hardship and above all extreme dedication and commitment, all the Award Winners have overcome daunting obstacles to emerge as national conservation champions in their countries."

Auil was awarded The Whitley Award for Rivers and Wetlands for her work to research and conserve the habitat and biology of the little known Antillean manatee (http://www.whitleyaward.org/display.php?id=78). The Antillean manatee is an unusual marine mammal, related to elephants, that can grow up to 13 ft long and weigh as much as 3,000 pounds. Only an estimated 1,000 Antillean manatees remain in Belize. The species is distinct from its better know relative, the Florida manatee, but unfortunately both types of manatee (which are sub-species of the West Indian Manatee) face the same dangers.

Manatees are gentle and slow moving, making them vulnerable to fatal boat strikes and accidental capture in fishermen's nets. Belize is also a center of growing tourism, which brings economic hope to depressed costal communities, but may spell doom for the manatees.

While tourism offers the best hope to preserve these aquatic creatures by encouraging locals to protect what could be a valuable tourist attraction, the rising number of visitors is leading to disturbance and a growing number of manatee deaths by speedboats. Auil's research shows that more than 25% of annual Antillean manatee deaths in Belize are caused by boat traffic.

Auil's task is to work with the local community and government to help raise awareness among inhabitants of Southern Lagoon - a hotspot for manatees and their calves - of the economic value of protecting the herbivorous mammals by implementing speed restrictions and developing income generating tourism activities that do not harm the manatees.

James "Buddy" Powell, director of Wildlife Trust's Edge of the Sea Aquatic conservation program (and an acclaimed pioneer in the study of manatees), said of Auil's award, "Nicole is one of those most remarkable individuals who can glide effortlessly between working in muck up to her ears or greeting royalty. She's a professional and dedicated biologist, and with the help of the Whitley Award, she'll be able to continue her efforts to protect Belize's threatened coastal resources."