Andrew Zaloumis, the CEO of iSimangaliso Wetland Park, has been named the winner of the WWF SA Living Planet 2015 Award.
“I would like to thank the WWF for this award. I would like to acknowledge my former “boss” Valli Moosa who was there at the start, and thank all the people who have inspired me and worked alongside me to make this a reality. And a special thank you to my family, especially my father, who inspired my love for iSimangaliso. This has been and is a team effort,” said Zaloumis in a statement..
Zaloumis's tenure at the park saw it declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999.
His term also saw the reintroduction of lions to the park In 2013, 44 years after they had last been sighted there.
"iSimangaliso has shown us that at a time when conservation budgets are at their lowest and there are so many other priorities globally, parks can still prevail,” Dr Ian Player told Africa Geographic at the time.
WWF SA Chairman Valli Moosa said that the award is not something the organisation gives lightly.
"Last year we did not give an award. This year we determined it should go to Andrew Zaloumis for his boldness, visionary approach and courage to bring an inclusive form of conservation to an area that was once an apartheid operational zone and had one of the lowest human development indices in the country,” said Moosa.
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