BP, on behalf of its partners in Azerbaijan such as International Operating Company (AIOC), the Shah Deniz Project and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export and the South Caucasus Pipleline (SCP) gas export pipelines has announced the 5th Biodiversity Competition award in Azerbaijan on the theme of Biodiversity in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
The award presentation ceremony was attended by a large group of representatives of all relevant organizations, government authorities, non-governmental organizations and the media
The competition is part of BP and its partners Biodiversity Strategy in Azerbaijan and supports their commitment to undertaking a series of specific biodiversity initiatives in the countries and areas where they operate. This yea competition was based on the success of the preceding four competitions and had the same objective, which is to make a real, measurable and positive impact on the biodiversity of the world. It aimed to find the best ideas for raising awareness of the importance of preservation of the world biodiversity, and ideas which can be implemented in a practical way both today and in the future
The competition was held in two categories - the best biodiversity project and the best biodiversity article and video material. This second category has been introduced to promote environmental journalism in Azerbaijan.
Four boards were set up to review and evaluate the submitted proposals and articles. The boards evaluated the submitted materials through a multi-stage process.
As a result of the multi-stage evaluation process the main prize of this year competition has been awarded to the Society of Zoologists of Azerbaijan for the project Laying the Foundation for the Monitoring of Bezoar Goat (Capra Aegagrus) and Moufflon (Ovis Orientalis) in Azerbaijan and the Development of Action Plan to Preserve These Species. The value of the project is $18,670.
The second prize, and an award of $1,500 goes to the non-governmental organization Ecostyle - Azerbaijan for their project Champion Trees of Azerbaijan.
The third prize and an award of $1,000 goes to the Society of Zoologists of Azerbaijan for their proposal entitled The Animal World in the Azerbaijan Sector of the Caspian Sea.
In addition, four participants have been highly commended by the judging panel. These organizations have been awarded $500 each, which they will use for capacity building purposes.
In the best biodiversity article and video material category no first prize was awarded this year as none of the submissions fully met all the requirements of the competition.
The second prize and an award of $500 have been awarded to Gulgiz Suleymanova for her article Seal Flu Virus published in the Zerkalo newspaper.
The third prize and an award of $300 dollars have been awarded to Sevinj Heydarova for her series of articles - Threat of Fire, Threat of Pesticides and The Golden Sands of Absheron are being Removed under the Cover of the Night published in the Kaspiy and the Obozrevatel newspapers.