On 10 Oct, 2019, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) presented the Marsh Awards to the late Dr. Lew Young, the former Chief Executive of the EAAFP Secretariat for his contributions and for Wetland Conservation. His posthumous award was received by his wife Dr. Deborah Cha during the WWT AGM held on that day.

Dr. Lew Young received this international award posthumously in recognition of his work as a passionate and inspirational conservationist, who had committed his entire career to conservation of wetlands and waterbirds. For almost 20 years, he managed the Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), one of the best-known wetland reserves in the migratory flyway. Here he established best practices for wetland management and created education programmes for students and visitors. In 2008 he became Senior Regional Advisor for Asia-Oceania in the Ramsar Convention secretariat in Switzerland, working with partners across the region to address threats to key wetlands. In 2018 he was appointed Chief Executive of the EAAFP until his unfortunate passing in March 2019.

Three conservation heroes have been recognised for their achievements  and received the Marsh Award for Wetland Conservation from the WWT. The other two awardees were Mary Colwell and David Hindle.

Original article: https://www.wwt.org.uk/news/2019/10/14/wetland-conservation-heroes-the-marsh-awards-2019/17806

Learn more about the Marsh Awards: https://www.wwt.org.uk/discover-wetlands/marsh-award

Photo credit: © WWT

Photo credit: © WWT