The EcoTarium has recognized one of the world’s leading environmental advocates with its highest honor, celebrating a career dedicated to protecting biodiversity and advancing international cooperation on conservation.
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, assistant secretary-general of the United Nations and deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, received the 2026 Edward Howe Forbush Naturalist Award during the EcoTarium’s 201st Annual Meeting on June 9. The award recognizes lifetime achievements in conservation, environmental stewardship and science education.
Mrema accepted the honor virtually from UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
In announcing the award, the EcoTarium cited Mrema’s leadership in helping negotiate international agreements aimed at protecting biodiversity and restoring ecosystems around the world.
“The EcoTarium is proud to present Elizabeth Maruma Mrema with the Edward Howe Forbush Naturalist Award in recognition of her leadership and diplomacy in establishing international agreements to protect and restore the biodiversity of our natural world across the globe,” EcoTarium President and CEO Noreen Johnson Smith said in the announcement. “Ms. Mrema shares our mission of connecting people with science and nature while inspiring action to protect the ecosystems on which we all depend. She is a dynamic leader and a singular force of nature.”
An environmental attorney and diplomat, Mrema has spent more than two decades in leadership roles with the United Nations Environment Programme. In 2023, she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.
Among her most significant accomplishments was serving as executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, where she helped lead negotiations that resulted in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, an international agreement establishing long-term goals and targets for protecting nature through 2050.
Accepting the award, Mrema reflected on the collaborative nature of conservation work.
“I am deeply honored and humbled…To be recognized by an institution that has done so much to inspire curiosity learning, and stewardship of the natural world is a privilege that I will cherish,” she said.
She said environmental progress depends on collective action rather than individual achievement.
“No meaningful achievement in environmental protection is ever the work of one individual…lasting environmental progress is always a collective endeavor,” Mrema said in the announcement.
She also expressed optimism despite the scale of global environmental challenges.
“At times, the scale of these challenges can feel overwhelming, but I remain optimistic,” Mrema said in the announcement. “Not because the challenges are small, but because I have seen what humanity is capable of when it works together.”
The event also highlighted conservation efforts closer to home. Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Tom O’Shea pointed to the state’s recently launched Massachusetts Biodiversity Initiative, which aims to protect and restore biodiversity while expanding public engagement with the natural world.
“The EcoTarium is one of our key partners in educating people about nature and restoring biodiversity in our communities,” O’Shea said in the announcement. “Honoring Ms. Mrema for her work with UNEP is a clear reminder that conservation requires collaboration on both a local and global scale.”
Earlier this year, the EcoTarium hosted the state’s first Massachusetts Biodiversity Day celebration after the observance was proclaimed by Gov. Maura Healey and Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty.
The museum said the award reflects its strategic focus on environmental conservation through education, community engagement and partnerships.
“These are times that call for both thinking globally and acting globally,” Johnson Smith said in the announcement. “Global action can feel beyond our individual capability or sphere of influence, but it is within reach. We can all join global initiatives to conserve our habitat, slow climate change, and protect and restore biodiversity.”
The Edward Howe Forbush Naturalist Award features a hand-carved piping plover created by Auburn woodcarver Ed Desrosiers, a three-time world champion. The threatened shorebird was chosen to symbolize successful conservation efforts and public cooperation in protecting natural habitats.
Concluding her remarks, Mrema encouraged communities of all sizes to recognize the impact of collective action.
“One tree may seem small, one community may seem small, one country may seem small, but when people, communities, and nations come together around a common purpose, they can transform the world,” she said in the announcement. “That is the promise of conservation. And that is the power of multilateralism. And that is the responsibility we all share.”
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