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 to seek effective ways to halt and reverse biodiversity loss while addressing interconnected challenges such as climate change, food security, and human well-being. Within this context, international recognition initiatives play a crucial role in elevating successful approaches, sharing knowledge, and inspiring action across sectors and borders. One such initiative is the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity, an international award dedicated to honoring individuals whose work has made a measurable difference in the conservation and sustainable use of the planet’s biological diversity.
The nomination phase for the 2026 edition of the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity is currently in progress, encouraging the public to put forward individuals whose work demonstrates exceptional leadership, innovative methods, and enduring impact. Entries may be submitted from 2 February to 31 March 2026 through the official platform of the AEON Environmental Foundation. By allowing open participation, the Prize reinforces its commitment to transparency and inclusion, ensuring that valuable contributions from diverse regions and disciplines receive recognition on a global scale.
A prize designed to elevate biodiversity on the global agenda
The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity was created to underscore the vital role biodiversity plays in sustaining resilient ecosystems and supporting human life. Strong biodiversity underpins food systems, moderates climate patterns, protects water resources, and enhances both economic prosperity and cultural traditions. Nevertheless, biodiversity decline has accelerated in recent years, driven by habitat degradation, pollution, the overuse of natural resources, and the effects of 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.
Global cooperation stands at the core 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, adopted in 1992, provides the principal global framework for biodiversity conservation, sustainable use, and the fair sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. Through its involvement, the CBD Secretariat helps position the MIDORI Prize within broader international efforts, linking individual achievements to collective global goals.
The 2026 Award Ceremony and Award Winners Forum will be held on 27 August 2026 in Tokyo, Japan, gatherings anticipated to strengthen global momentum prior to the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 17), scheduled to convene in Yerevan, Armenia. COP 17 will take place under the theme “Taking action for Nature,” emphasizing practical delivery and accountability at a crucial moment for worldwide biodiversity commitments.
Celebrating outstanding achievements across diverse fields of endeavor
One hallmark of the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity is its ability to honor outstanding achievements across a range of fields, and instead of centering on a single discipline, the Prize recognizes that meaningful advances in biodiversity conservation rely on complementary efforts that span scientific, social, and political spheres.
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 holistic approach mirrors the complexity of biodiversity challenges and reinforces the idea that no single pathway is sufficient on its own. By celebrating achievements across these domains, the Prize encourages cross-sector dialogue and highlights the value of integrated strategies.
A decade defined by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
The significance of the MIDORI Prize has steadily increased alongside the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), approved during the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in 2022. This Framework serves as a worldwide roadmap designed to stop and reverse biodiversity decline by 2030, outlining 23 practical targets aimed at confronting the main causes of ecological degradation while advancing sustainable use and fair benefit-sharing.
Achieving the ambitions of the KMGBF requires a whole-of-society approach, involving governments, the private sector, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and individuals. The MIDORI Prize directly supports this vision by recognizing individuals who embody leadership and innovation in advancing these objectives. In doing so, it helps translate the Framework’s targets into visible examples of progress, making abstract goals more tangible and relatable.
As the 2030 deadline draws nearer, the need to expand impactful solutions grows more evident, and recognition programs like the MIDORI Prize can help speed this progress by spotlighting effective approaches and motivating their adoption across diverse settings.
Shaping a heritage of far‑reaching global influence
Since it was established during the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010, the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity has recognized 21 individuals from 20 countries. This geographic diversity underscores the global nature of biodiversity challenges and the universal relevance of conservation efforts. From tropical forests and coral reefs to urban ecosystems and agricultural landscapes, the work of past recipients demonstrates that impactful action can take many forms.
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.
Moreover, publicly recognizing an awardee can elevate their reputation and credibility, enabling them to secure funding, influence policy choices, and expand their initiatives. Through this recognition, the Prize becomes a potent catalyst that magnifies personal achievements and fosters broader systemic change.
Public participation and the nomination process
By seeking nominations directly from the public, the MIDORI Prize strengthens the notion that caring for biodiversity is a collective duty, enabling communities, organizations, and individuals to bring forward efforts that might otherwise go unnoticed, especially in areas or fields where recognition is limited.
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 participation in the nomination process also plays an educational role, fostering broader understanding of biodiversity challenges and the individuals working to tackle them. As people explore prospective nominees and their efforts, they gain a clearer view of the practical initiatives that reinforce environmental sustainability.
Anticipating 2026 and the years ahead
As global attention turns to COP 17 and the ongoing implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, initiatives like the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity gain even deeper relevance, maintaining progress, showcasing key accomplishments, and reaffirming to the international community that individual leadership remains a potent driver of meaningful change.
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.
Across the decade poised to define the planet’s biological diversity, recognizing and supporting those who set the benchmark becomes not just symbolic but a strategic pledge to the ideas, practices, and partnerships vital for safeguarding nature now and in the future. The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity stands as compelling proof of the impact that committed individuals can achieve when their work is acknowledged, amplified, and connected to global sustainability efforts.
