The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law is pleased to announce that Marcia Fajardo Cavalcanti de Albuquerque (who is a student at both Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne, France, and Mackenzie University of Sao Paolo, Brazil) and Dignité Bwiza (who is a student at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa) are the winners of the 2015 Best Graduate Student Paper Award.  Congratulations.

Márcia Fajardo Cavalcanti de Albuquerque

The title of Marcia’s paper is “Biodiversity vs Agriculture – Friends or Foes?  The Agroforestry Case within the Brazilian Legal Framework.”   Her paper argues that agriculture and biodiversity can be allies through the adoption of agroforestry practices. She illustrates her argument through a Brazilian case study, and discusses the reforms necessary to create a supportive regulatory framework.

Winnie Carruth & Marcia Fajardo Cavalcanti de Albuquerque

Dignité Bwiza

The title of Dignite’s paper is “Attaining Sustainable Forest Management in Post-Conflict Societies: How the Principles of Adaptive Law and Resilience can Strengthen Forest Law Enforcement.”  Her paper examines forest management in the Democratic Republic of Congo and uses legal and non-legal materials as well as structured interviews with a variety of stakeholders to develop recommendations for protecting forests in post-conflict societies.

Dignité Bwiza

Edward Elgar Publishing kindly donated two books to each of Marcia and Dignité to mark the occasion.  The IUCN Academy thanks Edward Elgar for its generosity and continuing support of the Academy.