Prizes

The first prize from the International Ford Motor Company Foundation for efforts to conserve indigenous species of plants and animals. Ford Motor Company awarded the first prize for environmental protection in 2002 (Conservation and Environmental Grants 2002) to the project "Saving the Danube Salmon - the living fossil of Romania's fauna," carried out by the Aquaterra Ecological Society. The project was coordinated by Dr. Nicolae Crăciun, the initiator of the Aquaterra organization. Aquaterra's activity in saving the Danube Salmon and other endangered species was promoted through the research news of the Weekly Information Bulletin published by the University of Bucharest. The Ford awards ceremony took place on November 19, 2002, at the Cotroceni National Museum. A record number of 102 projects from Central and Eastern Europe participated in the selection. The first prize consisted of an award of $5,000, in recognition of the already completed activities. Aquaterra used this funding for investments in equipment for hormones, reagents, filters, transport of biological materials, and populating rivers for captive breeding and repopulation.