High praise for Sir Ed from WWF.

Sir Edmund Hillary has been instrumental in creating strong relationships between New Zealand and Nepal, and particularly in raising public and media environmental awareness through his actions. This has notably included his key role in pursuing the New Zealand and Nepalese governments in setting up the Mount Everest National Park, now a world heritage site. This created a platform for collaboration within WWF between New Zealand and Nepal.

"WWF would like to publicly acknowledge the enormous contribution that Sir Ed has made to increase environmental awareness, which is the first step towards environmental action", says Jo Breese, WWF Chief Executive.

Sir Edmund was also a member of WWF's international Advisory Council from January 1986 until the end of 1994, when the Council was discontinued, and has been a WWF Special Adviser since January 1996. He was awarded The Order of the Golden Ark in June 1987 for his outstanding exploits in nature and subsequent devotion to nature conservation, forest protection, and forest restoration, particularly in Nepal.

Through collaboration between New Zealand and Nepal, WWF has recently received funding from New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) for a local WWF project in the area surrounding the Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal. This project aims to improve the capability of the communities in this zone to sustainably manage this vital area.

"The Sagarmatha National Park is an exceptional area including its wildlife and towering mountains and glaciers, dominated by Mt Everest. It also has a special community of 7,000 people, rich in cultural history, living around the border of the park", says Chris Howe, WWF Conservation Director.

"WWF works with this local community to enhance the capability and to empower the community to make them more aware of the rules and regulations of the Park. One of the aims is to maximise the benefits they can get out of the limited resources they have", says Chris Howe, WWF Conservation Director.

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