As ecosystems face unprecedented pressure, recognizing individuals who drive meaningful change has become essential to sustaining life on Earth. The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity highlights those efforts and amplifies their impact worldwide.
The global community continues striving to stop and reverse biodiversity loss while simultaneously confronting interconnected challenges, including climate change, food security, and human well-being. In this landscape, international recognition initiatives play an essential part in highlighting effective strategies, circulating knowledge, and motivating action across sectors and borders. One notable example is the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity, an international award devoted to acknowledging individuals whose efforts have produced a tangible impact on conserving and sustainably managing the planet’s biological diversity.
The call for nominations for the 2026 edition of the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity is now open, inviting members of the public to put forward candidates whose contributions demonstrate leadership, innovation, and long-term impact. Nominations may be submitted between 2 February and 31 March 2026 through the official platform of the AEON Environmental Foundation. By opening the process to the public, the Prize reinforces its commitment to inclusivity and transparency, ensuring that impactful work from diverse regions and disciplines can be recognized on a global stage.
A prize designed to elevate biodiversity on the global agenda
The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity was created to underscore the fundamental role that biodiversity plays in sustaining ecosystems and supporting human societies. Healthy biodiversity underpins food systems, regulates climate, protects water resources, and contributes to economic stability and cultural identity. Despite this, biodiversity loss has accelerated in recent decades, driven by habitat destruction, pollution, overexploitation of natural resources, and climate change.
Framed within this context, the Prize serves not only as an honor but also as a means to build awareness, highlighting significant individual initiatives that draw public interest through practical solutions and underscoring that committed leadership can achieve tangible environmental outcomes. By granting this recognition, the Prize helps bridge gaps between scientific understanding, policy development, and on-the-ground implementation, encouraging collaboration across diverse disciplines and sectors.
Since its inception, the Prize has honored individuals whose work spans a wide spectrum of fields, from scientific research and community-led conservation to environmental education and policy advocacy, reflecting the recognition that protecting biodiversity cannot be achieved through isolated actions but depends on coordinated efforts that unite science, governance, and engaged public participation.
International collaboration at the heart of the initiative
The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity is co-organized by the AEON Environmental Foundation and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This partnership brings together a philanthropic foundation with a global environmental governance body, ensuring that the Prize aligns with international biodiversity objectives while remaining grounded in real-world impact.
The Convention on Biological Diversity, established in 1992, serves as the central international framework guiding biodiversity protection, sustainable utilization, and the equitable distribution of benefits derived from genetic resources, and through its participation, the CBD Secretariat helps place the MIDORI Prize within wider global initiatives, connecting individual contributions with shared international objectives.
The 2026 Award Ceremony and Award Winners Forum will be held on 27 August 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. These events are expected to contribute to global momentum around the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 17), scheduled to take place in Yerevan, Armenia. COP 17 will be convened under the theme “Taking action for Nature,” emphasizing implementation and accountability during a critical phase for global biodiversity commitments.
Celebrating outstanding achievements across diverse fields of endeavor
One of the defining features of the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity is its recognition of excellence across different areas of contribution. Rather than focusing on a single discipline, the Prize acknowledges that progress in biodiversity conservation depends on complementary efforts that address scientific, social, and political dimensions.
Historically, award categories have included implementation, science and research, and policy and enlightenment. Implementation-focused recipients are often those who translate knowledge into action, delivering conservation outcomes through field projects, community engagement, or sustainable resource management. Science and research honorees contribute by advancing understanding of ecosystems, species, and ecological processes, providing the evidence base needed for informed decision-making. Policy and enlightenment awardees, meanwhile, play a critical role in shaping legislation, influencing governance frameworks, and raising public awareness.
This comprehensive approach reflects the intricate nature of biodiversity challenges and stresses that no single route can stand alone. By acknowledging accomplishments across these areas, the Prize fosters dialogue among sectors and underscores the importance of coordinated, integrated strategies.
A decade shaped by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
The relevance of the MIDORI Prize has grown in parallel with the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), agreed at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in 2022. The Framework represents a global blueprint to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, setting out 23 action-oriented targets that address drivers of degradation while promoting sustainable use and equitable benefit-sharing.
Achieving the ambitions of the KMGBF calls for a society-wide effort that brings together governments, the private sector, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and individual citizens. The MIDORI Prize strongly supports this vision by celebrating individuals who showcase leadership and inventive approaches in advancing these goals. In doing so, it transforms the Framework’s targets into tangible examples of progress, making once-abstract objectives clearer and more accessible.
As the 2030 deadline approaches, the urgency to scale meaningful solutions becomes increasingly clear, and recognition initiatives such as the MIDORI Prize can accelerate this momentum by highlighting successful strategies and encouraging their implementation in a wide range of contexts.
Forging a legacy with a profound impact across the globe
Since its creation during the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010, the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity has honored 21 individuals representing 20 countries, reflecting the worldwide scope of biodiversity issues and the shared importance of conservation. Spanning tropical rainforests, coral reef habitats, urban environments, and farmland, the achievements of previous recipients show that meaningful progress can emerge through many different approaches.
The heritage of the Prize extends far beyond recognizing individuals, as its award ceremonies and associated forums open opportunities to share knowledge, form networks, and foster cooperation, enabling winners to reflect on their experiences and learn from one another. These exchanges help cultivate a global community of practice dedicated to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
Furthermore, public acknowledgment can boost an awardee’s profile and trustworthiness, helping them obtain funding, shape policy decisions, and grow their programs. In doing so, the Prize serves as a powerful driver that amplifies individual contributions and supports wider systemic transformation.
Public participation and the nomination process
By inviting nominations from members of the public, the MIDORI Prize reinforces the idea that biodiversity conservation is a shared responsibility. This open approach allows communities, organizations, and individuals to highlight work that might otherwise remain under-recognized, particularly in regions or sectors with limited visibility.
The nomination window for the 2026 Prize extends from 2 February to 31 March 2026, during which entries are evaluated using criteria that highlight measurable results, inventive approaches, and consistency with global biodiversity goals. By following this review process, the Prize aims to recognize individuals whose work provides meaningful insights and motivates others engaged in the same field.
Public engagement in the nomination process also serves an educational function, encouraging greater awareness of biodiversity issues and the people addressing them. By learning about potential nominees and their work, members of the public gain insight into the practical actions that support environmental sustainability.
Looking forward to 2026 and the years that follow
As worldwide focus shifts toward COP 17 and the continued rollout of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, initiatives such as the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity take on ever greater significance, sustaining momentum, highlighting achievements, and reminding the international community that individual leadership continues to be a powerful catalyst for transformation.
The 2026 Award Ceremony and Award Winners Forum in Tokyo are expected to provide an opportunity for meaningful dialogue and reflection at a pivotal time for biodiversity governance, and by uniting award recipients, policymakers, scholars, and practitioners, these gatherings will cultivate collective understanding and highlight the pressing need for coordinated action.
Over the decade that will shape the planet’s biological diversity, acknowledging and empowering those who set the standard is not merely symbolic but a strategic commitment to the ideas, methods, and alliances essential for protecting nature today and in the years ahead. The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity serves as clear evidence of the influence dedicated individuals can exert when their contributions are recognized, elevated, and linked to global sustainability initiatives.
