Biologist who saved nine species from extinction has been given the Indianapolis Prize for conservation

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A biologist from Wales who saved nine species from extinction has been given a prestigious environmental award.

Prof Carl Jones has been awarded the 2016 Indianapolis Prize, often dubbed the “Nobel prize” of conservationism.

The 61-year-old, who has dedicated most of his life to protecting wild birds, was given the accolade for almost 40 years of work in Mauritius.

In the 1970s when he first went to the east African island, once home to the Dodo, there were just four Mauritius kestrels left in the wild – making it the rarest bird in the world.

A decade later, their number had soared to more than 300.

Prof Jones also played a major role in helping bringing rare species such as the pink pigeon, echo parakeet and Rodrigues warbler from the brink of extinction.

He said: “Winning the 2016 Indianapolis Prize is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my career.

“I’m particularly proud of this award because it validates the conservation of animals – like Telfair’s skinks and pink pigeons - that are not megavertebrates, but provide critically important ecosystem services nonetheless.”

Officials from the Indianapolis Prize will laud Prof Jones as the winner at a celebratory ceremony on Wednesday with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust at the London Natural History Museum.

As the 2016 Indianapolis Prize Winner, Prof Jones – who is also chief scientist of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and scientific director of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation – will receive an unrestricted $250,000 (£172,400) cash award and the Lilly Medal.

Jones, originally from St Clears, near Carmarthen, said the prize also meant a lot given the obstacles he faced when he first started out.

“There was some opposition to the type of techniques I was using,” he added.

“There was a lot of opposition to captive breeding and manipulative techniques which were used were seen as controversial and untried.

“But they were they were highly effective techniques.

“As a young man in my 20s, I certainly didn’t enjoy the stress and the tension of the criticism I received.”

However, like most great innovators – whose pioneering work was originally derided – the results later proved doubters wrong.

What made the Swansea University graduate different was that he recognised the need to restore entire ecosystems, rather than just simply focusing on a species.

He is also credited with championing the idea of “ecological replacement”, a conservation tactic in which other species fill in important ecological roles once held by extinct species.

And Prof Jones has dedicated his entire life to conservationism, so much so that he only became a father for the first time eight years ago, at 53.

When asked what motivated him, the father of two said: “When you lose species from the world you are simplifying the world and it’s becoming a duller place.

“The world has become such a modified place and there are very few wild areas left.

“I want to live in an interesting world which is diverse.

“Even if I do not get to see them, then I want to know there are polar bears in the Arctic or blue whales in the ocean.”

However, despite humankind’s scarring of the planet Prof Jones refuses to be downbeat and insists the future can still be a positive one.

“I’m an optimist,” he declared.

“There are lots of scientific breakthroughs such as gene editing and having designer systems and designer animals.

“I always find it absurd to people who criticise these methods saying they go against nature. But everything man does has an affect on nature.

“People are very happy to destroy the world, but if you want to save it then you have to be prepared to take bold action.”

Fellow ecologists said Prof Jones, who now lives in Llanwrda, Powys, was a deserving winner.

Dr Lee Durrell, director for Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, said: “Carl is living proof that by having the courage, talent and vision to take small steps, we can win victories for species large and small.”