2017 UNESCO – Sultan Qaboos Prize for Environmental Preservation

The National Parks Board of Singapore (NParks) has won the 2017 UNESCO Sultan Qaboos Environmental Preservation Prize, upon the recommendation of the jury of the UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Program Secretariat. The Prize consists of a diploma, a medal and a cash endowment of US$70,000 and is awarded in alternate years. It was established by a generous endowment by Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said of Oman. The award was presented by Dr Madeehabint Ahmed al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education and chairperson of the Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science on the first day of the eighth World Science Forum, which took place at the Dead Sea, Jordan, from 7-11 November 2017, under the auspices of UNESCO. The award is in recognition of NPark’s significant contribution to environmental preservation. In addition, it is promoting biodiversity in highly urbanised environments through the restoration of habitats and species, and for supporting the incorporation of biodiversity into all levels of the education system, as well as managing the World Heritage site of the Singapore Botanical Gardens alongside 350 other parks and four natural reserves. The origins of the NParks can be traced to the exercise of tree-planting in the 1960s, which enjoyed the patronage of Lee Kuan Yew, then Prime Minister of Singapore. With significant achievements in greenery, the vision and mission of the NParks has evolved from a “Garden City” to a “City in a Garden”. Parks Board of Singapore strives to work beyond the greening of Singapore. The NParks has enabled the discovery of invertebrate species (such as insects, snails etc.). NParks was instrumental in both