A new award, hosted by RSPB Scotland, is looking for nominations for people and projects making a real difference to Scottish nature conservation. The winners of the first annual Nature of Scotland Awards will be announced in March 2012, with nominations open until 26 August.
There are six categories, each recognising a different area or type of contribution to the protection of Scotland’s natural heritage: the Marine Conservation award; the Sustainable Development award; the Politician of the Year award; the Innovation award; the Outstanding Contribution award and the RSPB Species Champion award.
Anyone can enter the awards, as long as they or the project that they are working on is linked to Scotland. It is free to enter and entries are welcome from projects or individuals that have been active in the last three years.
The judging panel includes Stuart Housden OBE, Director of RSPB Scotland; BBC TV and radio presenter and wildlife expert Euan McIlwraith, respected naturalist and author Sir John Lister-Kaye OBE and Dr Ian Jardine, Chief Executive of Scottish Natural Heritage.
If you know of any individual, group or organisation who you believe to have really made a difference to Scottish nature conservation, then the RSPB would love to hear from you. You can make a nomination at the RSPB website where there is also more information about the awards.