NDRC Nepal bags international award for bio-diversity conservation

Bonn, Germany,  National Disaster Risk Reduction Centre (NDRC) Nepal has won the Judge & #39's Choice Award in the 2017 “Farming for Biodiversity” contest. 
Solution Search, a global contest designed to identify, reward and spotlight innovative approaches to conservation, announced the winners on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) of Parties in Bonn Germany. 
There were 338 submissions of different organizations from 70 countries around the globe showcasing leading approaches to make farming friendlier to people and the planet. 
The contest was focused on finding the most innovative solutions that make farming more sustainable and promote behaviours that increase biodiversity across the agricultural sector. 
A two-day workshop was held in Bonn, Germany where leaders mapped strategies to scale up and replicate their ideas across the world. The 19 judges comprised of a panel of experts from conservation, development, media, finance and other professions selected. 
NDRC Nepal was selected as the Judge's choice for its outstanding activity of public awareness campaign which benefitted 14,000 indigenous households and reduced upstream area of Banganga River Basin’s slash and burn practices. 
According to Dr. Dhruba Gautam, Executive Director at NDRC Nepal, heavy soil erosion in the Banganga River Basin was leading to major losses in the region’s biodiversity -both upstream and downstream. NDRC Nepal worked with government and non-government stakeholders to institute a series of more sustainable practices and executed public awareness campaigns. 
The organization received $30,000 cash prize which will further contribute to scale up and replicate its model in and around the Banganga River Basin. Winners will host capacity-building workshops across the globe to spread their effective solutions, NDRC Nepal stated in press release. 
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