Future For Nature Awards 2026 Ceremony

On Friday, May 8th, we celebrated the 19th Future For Nature Awards ceremony. This year promising conservationists Olabisi Atofarati from Nigeria, Marina Kameni from Cameroon, and Dayana Blanco from Bolivia were selected to be the 2026 FFN Awardees. The spotlight was on them, and their stories in yet another optimistic and hopeful ceremony, launching them into the Future For Nature Family.

Building on a legacy of icons

Elephant conservationist, BBC television presenter, filmmaker, and chair of the FFN International Selection Committee Saba Douglas-Hamilton hosted the show. In a touching speech talking about the water as a connecting thread in the stories of our three winners. Water connects us all: our society, our nature, and in keeping our planet healthy. An emotional moment followed when we honoured the icons that we have recently lost: Jane Goodall, Birute Galdikas, and Iain Douglas-Hamilton. They have taught us how to see animals as individuals, as sentient beings, that deserve to be protected from harm.

In celebration of 100 years of storytelling

The Award ceremony coincided with the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough. Once the Guest of Honour at the FFN Award (2009), and for all of us an example on how storytelling plays a majorly important role in nature conservation. Through video messages from all around the world, we honoured his legacy and wished him a happy birthday.

A Network of Conservation Impact

The three 2026 Future For Nature winners are added to a growing FFN Family of peers, all passion-driven nature conservationists fighting for a Future For Nature. In the ceremony we got personal updates from some of them. From the field in Bangladesh, Caesar Rahman shard the success of his breeding programme with the Asian giant tortoise. In addition to this being a major contribution to the species survival chances, the milestone also marked a remarkable attitude shift of the local people in the matamuhuir forest communities. People that once hunted this species, now cradle them with care in their shared forest home.

Another beautiful update came from Barbara Galletti in Chile, where she works to protect Southern Right Whales and other cetacean species from oceanic threats. She introduced a recently obtained tool that now helps her collect vital information on the species and individuals in a non-invasive way: drone photogrammetry! See more about this interesting technique in this video.

Last year marked a milestone for 2014 FFN winner Leela Hazzah: her organisation the Lion Guardians celebrated it’s 20th anniversary. The Lion Guardians play a critical role as protectors of both their communities, and the lions. They monitor lion movements, warn pastoralists when a lion is near, recover lost livestock and intervene to stop lion hunting parties. Their efforts have led to a tripling of the lion population in the Amboseli ecosystem. A true reason to celebrate, as this is one of the few places where lion populations are increasing.

Thai van Nguyen gave us another reason for hope. In his Rescue Center of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW) an incredibly special and unforgettable moment took place: the birth of a healthy baby Sunda Pangolin. For a species threatened with extinction by poaching and illegal wildlife trade, this new life represents a rare and powerful sign of hope for the future.

There is more FFN laureates that got into the action of rescue and rehabilitation. One of them being Alona Prylutska in Ukraine. In winter, many bat colonies find themselves trapped in places where people do not want them. They get thrown out into the icy winter conditions, and might not survive. Alona’s work has been made very difficult due to the war-situation, but this is not stopping her. On her bike she still tours around to rescue the bats from a certain death. She capture them, nurses them back to health, and allows them to hibernate in one of her fridges. Together with all rescued bats, they will be released back to nature at the annual Bat festival, celebrated across 14 cities in Ukraine as a true national symbol of hope.

Future For Nature Field Fellows

As a new initiative, the Future For Nature Field Fellows were also formally announced at this year’s Award ceremony. Field Fellows are students from the FFN Academy, who do their internship or thesis with one of the FFN Family members. The idea is simple but powerful: to create meaningful, hands-on collaborations where students can learn directly from world-leading conservationists, while also contributing fresh perspectives and energy to ongoing projects. A win-win situation.

Irina Lupascu became our first Field Fellow, visiting Anthony Waddle in his lab in Sydney. Her study focused on genetic techniques to fight chytrid fungal infections in frogs. Although originally not fond of frogs in particular, Irina quickly adapted to ‘life in the frog lab’ and evaluated afterwards that this was a life changing experience to her.

Award winning Stories

The presentations by the winners this year were kicked off by Olabisi Atofarati. She took us to the freshwater streams in the Cross River region of Nigeria, where the tiny but beautiful Scheeli Killifish lives. Through generational knowledge only passed from first daughter to first daughter, Olabisi was very aware of the life-giving role the freshwater streams play in the indigenous communities and in the natural balance of the region. However, it was only after her scientific studies into aquatic ecosystems that she truly became to understands the urgent threats to the system. She know works alongside the local communities, to study the species endemic to this area and map the threats that endanger their existence. In addition, she knows that conservation is a human story: the local communities need access to proper healthcare, economic activities, and eduction in order for them to be able to protect their livelihood and natural environment.

Marina Kameni then spoke to us via the screen – as her visa was unfortunately declined last-minute – about her work on amphibians in Cameroon. The drone shots from her landscape gave the audience a vivid picture of what her day-to-day reality is like. The landscape near Mount Manengouba is densely populated, with many people depending on the agriculture in the area. In between these activities are the sensitive frogs, who respond to pesticides and silently disappear from the forest. Marina works hard to convince farmers and landowners to stop using pesticides. In addition she works with the local schools to educate kids about nature, and the value of saving it.

The final acceptance speech was delivered by Dayana Blanco from Bolivia. She told the heart-breaking story of Lake Uru Uru. Due to mining activities, that were introduced to the area in a illegal, and corrupt way, the lake has been polluted by heavy metals in a timeframe of just 10 years. Plants stopped growing, fish died, and the three species of flamingos that once lived there left. Dayana, being an indigenous Aymara women that lived on the shores of the lake for all her life, took action. By re-inventing the use of Totura reeds (an ancestral tradition of her people) they were able to restore some 30% of the lake’s shores, resulting in the hopeful event of the return of the Flamingos. However, Dayana’s fight is not over yet. The mines can up till this day continue their contaminating actions, and are not held accountable for it. The animals and people that depend on the lake, are still exposed to threatening levels of heavy metals on a daily basis. The FFN Award will help Dayana gain visibility for this urgent and existential problem.

Future For Nature announcements

After a celebratory round of applause, Future For Nature was ready to announce two wonderful new developments to help the FFN Family grow their impact: the FFN winners from 2026 onwards will now automatically be nominated for IUCN membership of the Species Specialist group of their choice. The partnership will open doors for collaboration, mentorship, and greater impact in species conservation worldwide. At the same time, it brings fresh energy, new perspectives, and young leadership into the IUCN SSC Specialist Groups, strengthening conservation efforts through innovative ideas and the voices of a new generation.

Missed the ceremony or want to be re-inspired? Watch the recorded livestream via our YouTube channel: