Awards are given in 5 categories (see below), and Obura has been nominated in the science category, according to the criterion “Nominees for this award must have published or significantly contributed towards a game changing piece of scientific research that can be used for the benefit of global marine conservation or ocean health”. The Award cites his work on “global and local threats to coral reef health and their long-term prospects and provision of socio-economic benefits” and in particular the Western Indian Ocean – Ocean Economy Report, prepared jointly with WWF and the Boston Consulting Group, and on a partnership to secure marine ecosystems of the Northern Mozambique Channel, the second peak for coral reef diversity globally.

2017 was a watershed year for work on oceans with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 UN Oceans Conferene in June, and we hope to build on that into 2018 and the next decade to save coral reefs. Tying in nicely with the International Year of the Reef 2018, all four of the science finalists work on coral reef issues, the other three being:

• >> Ben Halpern, NCEAS – National Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, including ongoing work ‘Planetary Boundaries for a Blue Planet’
• >> Fabiano Thompson (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) Amazon Reef Science
• >> Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Global Change Institute, University of Queensland, Science advisor Chasing Coral

Stay tuned for June 2018 when the Award winner will be announced, and the Sponsors will host a ‘Change Makers’ Ocean Talks event in London on 13 June 2018.

The Awards are offered acros five categories (see here for more information): Local Hero, Science, Innovation, Visionary and Public Awareness.

See the 2018 finalists profiles here

See the 2017 winners of the awards here