Plan for the Land Society member, won the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MaB) “Young Scientist” Award 2009

Taher Ghadirian awarded the 2009 Young Scientist Award for conservation of breeding birds in the Hara mangrove forest biosphere reserve.

Every year since 1989, ten awards have gone to young researchers proposing interdisciplinary projects on ecosystems, natural resources and biodiversity, in keeping with the MaB Programme, which focuses on sustainable interaction between people and their environment. In 2009 Taher Ghadirian of Plan for the Land Society, Iran won the prize after four years of research and conservation of breeding birds in mangrove forests of Qeshm island, Persian Gulf.

One of the main goals of this award in biosphere reserves around the world is involvement of local communities in conservation which Ghadirian was extremely successful in relating these issues. Observing avian diversity and bird-watching in mangrove forests could establish a sustainable income for communities living around the biosphere reserve and this could directly facilitate the conservation of nature in future.