2000 Reuters-IUCN Media Awards ceremony
Worldwide environmental media prize awarded to Canadian journalist
Her Majesty Queen Noor congratulates winners of the 2000 Reuters-IUCN Global Media Awards

Amman, Jordan, 9 October, 2000 (IUCN) - Her Majesty Queen Noor of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan today awarded the 2000 Reuters-IUCN Global Media Award for excellence in environmental journalism to Alanna Mitchell of The Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada.

The award ceremony, hosted by IUCN-The World Conservation Union's Director General Maritta Koch-Weser and Reuters Foundation Director Maureen Marlowe, was a part of the 2nd World Conservation Congress, which is being held in Amman, Jordan until 11 October.

Mitchell received the award for her article "From the Vanishing Forests of Madagascar" - a comprehensive look at the growing number of extinct species on this island nation off the East Coast of Africa, which is often referred to as "the land of living fossils."

"'From the Vanishing Forests of Madagascar' is a particularly thorough and thoughtful examination of a complex web of challenges", said Her Majesty Queen Noor, who was also a member of the Master Jury selecting the winner. "The insights into possible solutions apply not only locally, but also globally."

Mitchell was among nine regional winners chosen from hundreds of entries in 64 countries. The other regional winners, who were also feted at the ceremony, were:

· Lu Hong Jian of Yang Jun (China) for "Living Space: a Feature Programme on Animal Protection" - a television documentary about human consumption of wild animals as culinary delicacies;

· Boris Zhukov of Itogi Magazine (Russia) for "The Great Cats of Russia" -- a comprehensive examination into preservation efforts of the Siberian Tiger, the Far Eastern Leopard and the Snow Leopard;

· Souleymane Ouattara of Quotidien du Soir (Burkins Faso) for "Our Friend, Fire", about the unlikely alliance and friendship between a former poacher and a wildlife warden;

· Ibiba Don Pedro of The Guardian (Nigeria) for "Life on the Harsh Lane" -- a chilling look at the hardships faced by women because of environmental degradation brought on by multi-national oil companies;

· Yasir Mahgoub Mohammed El Hussein of Al Sharq (Qatar) for "An Unwelcome Neighbour in Al-Hilal" -- a series of five articles describing efforts to get a warehouse full of hazardous chemicals moved from a residential neighbourhood;

· Oscar Ugarte and Paolo Galarza of Total Quality (Bolivia) for "Crosses in the Forest" -- a television documentary demonstrating that drug trafficking is an environmental problem as much as it is an economic and social problem;

· Johanna Romberg of Geo Magazine (Germany) for "The Cosmos In Your Own Backyard", about a one-day search for 1,000 different species on a 12-square-kilometer plot of land in Germany;

· Morena Azucena of La Prensa Grafica (El Salvador) for "The Immigrants", which describes parakeets' search for a place to sleep after their trees were cut down to widen a road.

A special mention was made to Marijana Ivanova from Denes Magazine (Macedonia) for her courageous, critical and thought-provoking article, "Our Tarnished Heritage."

Present to recognize and commend the excellence and commitment of these winners were Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, IUCN's Director General Maritta Koch-Weser, and Reuters Foundation Director Maureen Marlowe.

Mitchell was born into an environmentally-aware family. Every year on family trips, her biologist father taught Mitchell and her brothers and sister about animal behaviour. She was quizzed about the Latin names of every prairie plant species, and unconsciously absorbed the scientific theories of conservation biology. After she earned a degree in English and Latin literature from the University of Toronto, Mitchell got a degree in Journalism and joined The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper. She was based in Alberta as a western correspondent, and began reporting on Canada's endangered prairie species. This alerted her to the growing concern about extinction on a global scale, and eventually led her to Madagascar, where she reported her award-winning story.

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