The International Jury of the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2019 will be presented to renowned naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. The jury is presided over by former president Pranab Mukherjee.
Announcing the award, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust said in its statement: “Few individuals have come to be as identified with the well being of our planet, of all living creatures and their relationship with human beings, as Sir David. For over five decades he has produced and anchored the most compelling visual documentaries and histories of animal and plant life on Earth. He has written numerous fascinating books on his projects.”
“In recent years, he has drawn attention to one of the most destructive forces of our era: the threat to nature from a predatory humankind. In a lifetime of communicating effectively and evocatively about the natural world, he has become a powerful and persuasive voice on the need to heed warnings of looming ecological disaster, to maintain the earth's delicate ecological balance, and to cherish and preserve the natural world. As a natural historian and broadcaster, he has educated and made aware many generations, and many millions of ordinary people, of the glory of life on our planet and the dangers that imperil it,” it further said.
“Sir David's work, most of it for the BBC, has received wide recognition. Among his various awards, apart from a Knighthood, have been from the Royal Geographical Society, UNESCO's Kalinga Prize, the Michael Faraday Prize, the Descartes Prize and Fellowship of the Royal Society. Several Em.my and BAFTA awards have come his way, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. He has received widespread adulation for his documentaries, which include the Life and Planet series, such as Life on Earth, The Private Life of Plants, Life of Mammals, The Living Planet, The Blue Planet and The Frozen Plant. Several natural species, living and extinct, have been named after him.”
