The Nature and Life Foundation has awarded the Nature Conservation Award 2022 to Professor M. Anwarul Islam, former professor of the Zoology Department at Dhaka University, in recognition of his special contribution to nature and biodiversity conservation in Bangladesh.
The award ceremony took place last night at the Consciousness Square of Channel I in Tejgaon, Dhaka. The award was presented to Professor M. Anwarul Islam by Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Present at the event were Farhana Ahmed, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Abdul Hamid, Director General of the Department of Environment, M. Amir Hossain Chowdhury, Chief Conservator of Forests, and Mukit Majumdar Babu, Chairman of the Nature and Life Foundation and Vice Chairman of Impress Group.
Educator and wildlife researcher Professor M. Anwarul Islam was born in 1955 in Harinakunda, Jhenaidah. He obtained his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the Zoology Department of Dhaka University.
Professor Anwarul Islam obtained a diploma from the Nisar School of Taxidermy in the United States in 1981 and worked as an educationist at the National Museum of Natural History as part of his education there. In 1986, he conducted research on birds under the famous ornithologist Salim Ali and obtained a Ph.D. degree from the University of Bombay.
In 2020, he retired from Dhaka University and is currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer of WildTeam, a research institute for wildlife. He edited the “Red List” of endangered animals in Bangladesh, published by IUCN Bangladesh, based on which the policy and law for wildlife conservation have been formulated. He has more than 70 research articles on wildlife and biodiversity conservation, and he has published more than 10 books.
The Nature Conservation Award was initiated in 2009 by the Nature and Life Foundation. The program “Nature and Life,” focusing on research, information, awareness, and educational programs, began on August 1, 2010, on Channel i. The Nature Conservation Award started in 2011. The Nature and Life Foundation is involved in various activities, including research, public awareness, and education in wildlife and nature conservation.
