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Y2Y co-founder recognized
Harvey Locke, an original founder of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y), has received one of the world’s highest honours for conservation.
Presented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas, the oldest and largest environmental organization in the world, the Fred M. Packard International Parks Merit Award recognizes Locke’s extensive work in parks, wilderness and large-landscape conservation, and his international contributions toward these efforts in the realm of law, policy, communications and education.
Named one of Canada’s leaders for the 21st Century by Time Magazine, Canmore resident Locke had previously received the J.B. Harkin Award for Conservation, presented by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), as well as the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
As Y2Y’s strategic advisor, Locke has ensured greater protection throughout Alberta’s Banff National Park and the Bow Valley, the Flathead River Valley straddling the border between Montana and British Columbia, and the Nahanni region of the Northwest Territories.
His vision for large-landscape protection and wildlife connectivity has led to significant new protections of wildlife habitat throughout the Yellowstone to Yukon region over the last two decades, and has become an example for multiple conservation efforts around the world. His work has been featured internationally in influential publications, film and television.
Locke was on hand to accept his award at the World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia, a landmark global forum on protected areas, which is held once every ten years and sets the global agenda for protected areas conservation. At the Congress, he gave a keynote address about the importance of parks to the world and chaired the opening session on Large Landscape Connectivity Conservation.
“Conservation is a team sport,” said Locke on receiving the award. “I share this with the many friends and colleagues who form part of the Y2Y community and those at CPAWS, the WILD Foundation and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.”
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