The Director General of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon, SPNL, the local partner of Birdlife International, was awarded the IUC and Honorary Membership Award at the Council Meeting of the World Conservation Congress 2020, which explored, this year, the link between biodiversity and human and economic well-being. A SPNL team in Lebanon, the Middle East partnership in the IUC and Birdlife International and all the groups we represent here, I'm really humbled to be awarded this distinguished award by the IUC and since we were the ones that brought IUC and Lebanon four decades ago and we introduced it to the Ministry of Environment when we had a new Ministry of Environment and became member and now there's like 12 members from Lebanon and over 40 from the region. The Global Nature Conservation Community stood today to applaud Sarah Hals, outstanding contributions to the conservation of nature and natural resources in Lebanon and West Asia and to further the goals of IUC and the Hunter Turn Conservationist has realized the need for community-based action to conserve the rich biodiversity of the region. This is the effort at the House Special, IUC and this, having governments, NGOs, experts bringing people together, they are game-changing and that's why we are effective, we brought back the Hema, why and we got awarded for that because we shared it with the world, it's not we kept it for ourselves and we have a very strong partnership in Birdlife International, we mobilized the partnership today we were celebrating right here about the Vulture Day and we took pictures, we had people from 120 countries represented here, within IUC and we work as one team. Also winner of the 2018 Midori Prize for biodiversity, Sarah Hals has led the revival of the ancient Hema approach in Lebanon and catalyzed it spread across the region along with a network of partners and donors. In practice, the Hema empowers people to participate and develop leadership and decision-making, enables them to protect their own natural and cultural heritage and brings them sustainable livelihoods, facilitating their coexistence with nature. The Birdlife International Global Counselor has deliberately translated the region's particular reality, challenges and needs in the context of biodiversity to the international community, bringing more understanding to the systems of protection and conservation in West Asia. Realizing the effectiveness of community-based approach to nature conservation and community development, Assad and his team, along with prominent actors, has established 25 Hemas, covering 6% of the Lebanese territory and succeeded in setting Hema as fourth category to the protected areas of Lebanon. This award fuel Sarah Hals 40-year journey in battle to spread the values, principles and consciousness needed for a sustainable and healthy future. And it's very important to be aware that climate is changing and the word is changing, and you have to change our attitudes toward all these things. S.P.N.L. director will continue to inspire and influence activists, practitioners and decision-makers to deliver aligned and effective conservation outcomes.