The Waterbird Society

Scientific Study and Conservation of the World's Waterbirds

Kai Curry-Lindahl

Dr. Kai Curry-Lindahl is a distinguished Swedish zoologist whose major research interests are the ecology and population dynamics of vertebrates, particularly of the subarctic and arctic areas of Sweden and tropical regions in Africa. His passion has been the preservation of nature. He served as Editor of Sveriges Natur of the Swedish Society for the Conservation of Nature, Director of the Department of Natural History of the Nordic Museum and Skansen, Stockholm, and leader of various expeditions to many parts of the world. From 1966 through 1972 he served as Vice-Chairman of the International Commission on National Parks of the IUCNature. He is an author of 57 books, including a two-volume study of the national parks of the world. In 1968 and1969, Dr. Curry-Lindhal served as special consultant to UNESCO for the Intergovernmental Conference of Experts on the Scientific Basis for Rational Use and Conservation of the Resources of the Biosphere. Later, in 1970 he was an expert in ecology and conservation for Africa for UNESCO and the United Nations Development Programme. He now holds the position of Senior Advisor to UNEP in Nairobi.

Past recipients of the Kai Curry-Lindahl Award

Dr. David B. Wingate, 1993, for his outstanding studies of and contribution to the survival of the Bermuda Petrel (Pterodroma cahow)

Dr. Luc Hoffman, 1994, for his outstanding accomplishments in the conservation of colonial waterbirds and wetlands;

  • Luc Hoffman is currently President of WWF-France and Director emeritus of Wetlands International. He is past vice-president of the IUCN (1966-1969), WWF International (1961-1988), and Wildfowl Trust (1979).
  • He founded the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat in 1954, a private research institute devoted to ornithological studies. In 1974, he created the Tour du Valat Foundation whose mission is to study the functioning and protection of natural wetlands.
  • He directed the MAR project in 1958 (IUCN, IWRB, ICBP), which aimed to promote waterbird monitoring and wetland censuses. Its major outcome was the signature of the international Ramsar Convention in 1971 for the conservation of wetlands.
  • He has played a key role in the creation of WWF International and in major conservation projects in Spain, Greece, and Madagascar.
  • He created the International Banc d'Arguin Foundation in 1985 whose mission is to protect the Banc d'Arguin, a world heritage Ramsar site in Mauritania.
  • He has been awarded the Conservation Medal of the Duke of Edinburgh (WWF International), the Kai Curry-Lindahl award of the Waterbird Society (1994), and the Légion d'Honneur of France.

Dr. James Hancock, 1996

For his studies and conservation accomplishments for the herons of the world.

James Kushlan, 2003

Dr. James A. Kushlan is a biologist, writer, and educator, who has spent much of his career focused on the biology and conservation of colonial waterbirds. He was a founding member of the Waterbird Society and served as its president and editor of Waterbirds. He also was a founder and co-chair of the Heron Specialist Group, an organization of over 200 heron specialists, who together monitor the status and undertake conservation action on herons worldwide. With Heinz Hafner, he edited the volume Heron Conservation (2000), which synthesized the status and conservation of herons worldwide. His interest in heron conservation encouraged him to explore ways to connect herons to larger conservation initiatives, leading him to found the conservation initiative, Waterbird Conservation for the Americas, which now plans and executes waterbird conservation throughout the western hemisphere. He serves on the North American Bird Conservation Initiative US Committee, chairs the Bird Conservation Alliance, and is a board member of the Ornithological Council, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and the American Bird Conservancy.

He received his doctorate from the University of Miami and also honorary doctorates from Thiel College and John Cabot University. He has held positions as research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, senior science advisor to the US Geological Survey, director of Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, and professor of biology at The University of Mississippi and Texas A&M University. Dr. Kushlan has published over 190 papers and coauthored several books on waterbirds. In addition to Heron Conservation, these include The Herons (Oxford 2005), Waterbird Conservation for the Americas (2002), Heron Conservation (Academic Press, 2000), Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World (Academic Press, 1988), and Herons Handbook (1986).


Heniz Hafner, 2003

Dr. Heinz Hafner spent his professional career as a research ornithologist at Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat, Arles, France. He rose to head of ornithology at the station, where he conducted landmark studies on the behavior and ecology of the herons of the Camargue wetland of the Rhone Delta. He also conducted research and conservation studies in West Africa, North Africa, and China Beyond his research, Dr. Hafner was a dedicated conservationist, especially of herons and their wetland habitats. He was a founder and co-chair of the Heron Specialist Group, and undertook its organization in the Old World. He wrote many papers on heron biology with his colleagues, and was co-editor of the book Heron Conservation. He also is coauthor of the forthcoming Heron Action Plan. These two volumes summarize and synthesize the status, conservation issues, and actions needed for herons worldwide.

Dr. Hafner served as mentor to a generation of heron biologists and conservationists from around the world, many of whom returned to head heron conservation action in their own countries. He was especially concerned with, and successful in, organizing heron biologists from around the Mediterranean who undertook monitoring and examined biological and conservation issues throughout the region. Heinz Hafner passed away at his home in the Camargue in October 2003.