HELP US IDENTIFY AND CELEBRATE PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!
The Diversity for Life campaign wants to celebrate the unsung contributions of individual farmers, scientists and others to conserving the diversity of plants and animals in the Mediterranean.
Celebrating the Guardians of Diversity
Valeria Negri, a plant scientist at the University of Perugia has devoted her career to rescuing Italy’s endangered crop diversity. Jose Esquinas-Alcazar collected the seeds of nearly 400 varieties of melon while a young man in his native Spain. Panagiotis Sainatoudis rescues and distributes local crop varieties to growers in Greece. These are just a few of the Guardians of Diversity: individuals who have devoted their lives to furthering the conservation of plants and animals.
Do you know a Guardian of Diversity who can take their place alongside these individuals?
In media partnership with COPEAM (the Permanent Conference of Mediterranean Audiovisual Operators) and the City of Rome, the Diversity for Life campaign calls for nominations for the Second Annual Celebration of the Guardians of Diversity in the Mediterranean.
The objective of the initiative is to recognize the achievements of individuals that have made an important contribution to safeguarding agricultural biodiversity in the region and to inspire future generations of Guardians of Diversity.
A call for nominations
Nominations must be submitted in English and must include:
• Name, address, phone, and e-mail of nominee
• Name, address, phone, and e-mail of nominator
• A brief narrative statement (up to 500 words) describing the nominee’s qualifications to be a Guardian of Diversity in the Mediterranean
• Two confidential letters of support from people familiar with the nominee’s work. These should be requested by the nominator and e-mailed directly to info@diversityforlife.org
• Deadline for nominations is 1 April 2010
Please send all nominations for Guardians of Diversity in the Mediterranean to info@diversityforlife.org
Please restrict your nominations to individuals living or working in the countries bordering the Mediterranean. Organizations and institutions are not eligible for nomination.
The selected Guardians will be recognized in Rome at a ceremony at the Auditorium Parco della Musica during La Settimana della Biodiversità, a weeklong celebration of biodiversity in music, video, poetry, drama and art.
In subsequent years it is expected to expand the recognition of the Guardians of Diversity beyond the Mediterranean region.
Please feel free to share this call for nominations with others.