Arannayk Foundation, a nonprofit for enviornmental conservation, on Wednesday received the National Environment Award 2023 from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for its contribution to environmental education and awareness.

The PM handed over the award at the inaugural ceremony of the World Environment Day and National Tree Plantation Campaign 2024, and the Environment Fair and Tree Fair 2024 held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

Upon receiving this prestigious national award, Rakibul Hasan Mukul, the executive director of Arannayk Foundation, said the National Environment Award is a commendable initiative for recognising the contributions to environmental and forest conservation in the country.

This award will further energise Arannayk Foundation to enhance its activities in the days to come, he added.

Since its inception in 2003 through a joint initiative of the Bangladesh and US governments, Arannayk Foundation has been working towards conservation of forests, biodiversity, and their habitats, restoration of ecosystems, sustainable management of natural resources, and capacity building of communities vulnerable to climate change.

Through empowering local communities and involving them in forest conservation and environmental development efforts in the country, the organisation is striving to raise awareness on these issues and also engage the public sector through various programmes, an Arannayk Foundation press release said.

In its 20 years of journey, the Arannayk Foundation has published 36 publications on environmental conservation, biodiversity, climate change, and conservation of endangered tree species. Many of these books are being used as reference texts in various universities in Bangladesh.

Through these initiatives, the Arannayk Foundation has emerged as one of the leading non-governmental organisations in the country, contributing significantly to environmental education and awareness as well as forest and biodiversity conservation.