The Center for Conservation Biology was awarded the 2014 Conservation Partner Award by the Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.  The award was presented by chapter director Michael Lipford during the spring dinner of the board of directors in Suffolk, Virginia.  On hand to receive the award were Mitchell Byrd and Bryan Watts.

Bryan Watts displays 2014 conservation partner award. Photo by Marian Watts.

The Nature Conservancy and The Center for Conservation Biology share a conservation mission and have worked together on dozens of projects for decades.  As one of the great land-based conservation organizations throughout the world, The Nature Conservancy is tremendously effective in taking research provided by groups like CCB and converting it into conservation results.  We are very proud to be working alongside the staff of the Virginia Chapter.

Artwork showing a red-cockaded woodpecker at cavity by Michael Lipford (Director of the Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy).

The award included artwork done by Lipford himself that depicted the red-cockaded woodpecker.  The species is the most endangered bird in Virginia and a symbol of an enduring conservation partnership.  Heroic efforts by The Nature Conservancy, The Center for Conservation Biology, the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the past decade are turning the tide and demonstrating what may be achieved when conservation groups rally around a conservation cause.

Click here to learn more about red-cockaded woodpecker population monitoring and management in Virginia. 

May 20, 2014