Nigeria’s Suleiman Saidu has emerged as one of the winners of the 2021 prestigious Tusk Conservation award for wildlife rangers.
The prestigious award, hosted by Kate Silverton and presented by the beaming Prince William, 39, The Duke of Cambridge, was created to recognize the achievements of unsung heroes who lead conservation efforts in Africa.
It consists of three major awards which include; Prince William for Conservation in Africa, Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa, and Tusk Wildlife rangers award.
The award which returned on Monday night as a face-to-face event after last year’s show which was held virtually owing to the pandemic has been presented to Simson Uri-Khob from Namibia, Sulaimon Saidu of Nigeria and Julie Razafimanahaka of Madagascar.
Sulaimon Saidu, senior game guard ranger at Yankari game reserve in Nigeria, won the Tusk wildlife ranger award for his bravery and efforts in cutting previously life rife elephant poaching to just one case in 2015.
He also dedicated the award to the 100 African park rangers who on average lose their lives in the field each year, many killed by poachers hunting endangered species.
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Also, Simson Uri-Khob, chief executive of Save the Rhino Trust in Namibia, who won the Prince William Award for conservation in Africa, was recognised for his work for over 30 years of saving his country’s black rhino population.
Julie Razafimanahaka, executive director of Madagasikara Voakajy, a conservation organisation in Madagascar, also won the Tusk Award for conservation in Africa for her unique work on preserving the Mangabe rainforest and the species that inhabit it.
Speaking at the event, Prince William paid tribute to those risking their lives to protect the threatened species in Africa.
“In the aftermath of the COP26 conference, it is clear that we must see the environment, conservation, and climate change through the same prism and not in isolation. Africa’s extraordinarily rich biodiversity has the ability to sequester vast amounts of Carbon,” he said.
“But this is only possible if these landscapes remain truly intact and protected as functioning ecosystems,” he added.
The Tusk Conservation Awards has been celebrating African-based conservation leaders and wildlife rangers and also their significant impact in the field since 2013.
