It was a special appointment in a special place that Heinrich Belting was able to experience last Thursday (14 November). At the invitation of the city of Osnabrück, the LIFE IP GrassBirdHabitats project manager travelled to the city's historic town hall to receive the prestigious Haarmann Foundation Nature Conservation Award.
Belting has been successfully protecting endangered meadow birds for many years at the Nature Conservation Station Dümmer. This commitment has now been honoured by the Haarmann Foundation in the “Friedenssaal” of the town hall in front of around 80 invited guests. In their speeches, Osnabrück's mayor Katharina Pötter, the chairman of the Haarmann Foundation Antonius Fahnemann, and the head of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park Administration Peter Südbeck emphasised Belting's remarkable services to international nature conservation.
“Above all, the prize belongs to my team at the Nature Conservation Station Dümmer and the Lower Saxony State Agency for Bird Conservation”, underlines Heinrich Belting. “My long-time colleague Jürgen Göttke-Krogmann has played a decisive role in the success of the Nature Conservation Station, which he has helped to build up since 1993. I would not be standing here today without him!”
The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros. Consequently, Heinrich Belting will use the money for international meadow bird conservation: “There is a lack of qualified staff in the wintering areas of the Black-tailed Godwits in the rice fields in Senegal. We can use the money to fund two scholarships for a Master's degree in ornithology in West Africa. As the role of women is particularly difficult in wide circles of West Africa, it is particularly important to me that the prize money is used to support female students. They shall secure and develop the meadow birds' wintering areas in the future. After all, structural change is also threatening the loss of important areas there.”
International cooperation is close to Belting's heart and will also be an important part of his future work. “Successful bird conservation can only work at an international level along the entire bird migration routes.”