Kenton R. Miller Award
What the Award Is It is an international award organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), named in honour of Kenton R. Miller, a pioneer in protected-area management. Its full name is the Kenton R. Miller Award for Innovation in National Parks and Protected Area Sustainability.
The award recognises individuals (and sometimes teams) who have developed innovative policies, scientific/technical approaches, governance models or field practices that significantly increase the sustainability or management effectiveness of protected areas (national parks, reserves etc.).
It also typically includes a monetary grant (for example USD 5,000 in prior years) and international recognition. Why It Matters Protected areas (national parks, wildlife reserves, biosphere reserves) face increasing and complex challenges: climate change, habitat fragmentation, human-wildlife conflict, financing shortfalls, governance issues. The award highlights people who are tackling these challenges in new ways.
By recognising innovation and good practice, it serves as a beacon: encouraging replication and scaling up of successful models worldwide. Because it is global, it helps draw attention to lesser-known but high-impact conservation work, especially in developing countries. It keeps alive the legacy of Kenton Miller — someone who emphasised capacity-building and innovation in protected-area systems. Recent Recipient In 2025, the award was presented to Dr Sonali Ghosh, Field Director of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve in Assam, India.
She becomes the first Indian to win the award. Her work includes: Integrating local communities into the protected-area management process (strengthening conservation through local involvement) Developing governance models that link livelihood opportunities and wildlife protection — e.g., eco-tourism, frontline-staff welfare, anti-poaching protocols in the Kaziranga-Orang-Manas landscape. Promoting gender inclusion in field conservation teams, as part of her effort to modernise and broaden the impact of conservation in that region.