PRESS RELEASE (For King’s College and general release)
The Marsh- Marjan Award
One of the leading trusts that honours charitable work has created an award with
a pioneering research group at King’s College, London that studies the
connections between conflict and conservation.
The Marsh Christian Trust has joined with the Marjan Centre for the Study of
Conflict and Conservation within the Department of War Studies at King’s
College to create the award, which will be given annually to a person who has
made a notable contribution to the advancement of understanding of the sphere
of conflict and conservation.
While the Marsh Christian Trust has established its reputation for generosity
since it was started in 1981 for honouring ‘unsung heroes’ with grants and
awards, the Marjan Centre only began in July 2010; this latest award was the
initiative of the two chairmen of each organisation, Brian Marsh and Major
General Peter Davies, CB.
The nominee will be selected by a distinguished panel of experts from
environmental studies, conflict studies and academia, with the award being
handed over at a ceremony and reception.
The research programme at the Marjan Centre is led by Professor Michael
Rainsborough, Professor of Strategic Theory at the Department of War Studies,
with former War Studies graduate, Jasper Humphreys, as Director of Operations.
Comment Brian Marsh, chairman of the Marsh Christian Trust:
‘Being associated with the Marjan Centre gives me great pleasure as it is a unique
institution. The more I thought about the overlap of conflict and conservation the
more I realised what an enormous subject it was and yet how little was known
about it. It is a fact of life that to understand history and how we live you have to
understand the impact of war.
Added to that was the fact that the research was being carried out at Kings’
College, London, a university with a famous reputation, and it is the students who
are the future generation of leaders and opinion formers.
One of the philosophies of the Marsh Awards is to honour innovative
approaches to conservation; there is so much wonderful work being carried out
all over the world and it seems only fair that some recognition should be made of
these efforts.’
Comment: Major General Peter Davies, CB, chairman of the Marjan
Centre for the Study of Conflict and Conservation at the Department
of War Studies, King’s College, London
‘The Marjan Centre is delighted that Brian Marsh and his wonderful organisation
should step forward like this to initiate and support the Marsh-Marjan Award.
We are a young organisation and to have the recognition of such a prestigious
organisation as The Marsh Christian Trust is a major boost for us and we are
extremely grateful. It also a sign that the area of conflict and conservation
demands much greater research, coming out of the sad realisation that the world
is riddled with conflicts and that biodiversity rarely escapes unharmed.
The world of conservation owes a great debt to Brian Marsh who is a beacon of
charitable endeavour to help the world around him’.
Notes to editors:
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Marsh Christian Trust: was established in 1981 and has two main areas of work;
grant-making and the Marsh Awards. The Trust provides grants to registered
charities working in the fields of social welfare, literature, arts and heritage,
environmental and animal welfare, healthcare and medical research, education and
training and a small number overseas projects. The Trust runs a portfolio of Awards
with a number of internationally and nationally recognised organisations such as
Barnardos, the National Trust and the Zoological Society of London. The Awards
seek to recognise unsung heroes who all aim to improve the world we live in.
Recipients of Marsh Awards range from scientists working in conservation biology
and ecology, to authors and sculptors and those who give towork with the young,
the elderly, people with mental health issues.
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The Marjan Centre for the Study of Conflict and Conservation: was set up in
July, 2010, as a research group within the Department of War Studies, King’s
College, London to study the overlap of conflict with the conservation of biodiversity.
Its field of research is unique in the world and draws on the resources of the highly
acclaimed Department of War Studies as well as having a Advisory Panel across a
broad field of interests that range from primatologist, Dame Jane Goodall, and
climate expert, Sir Crispin Tickell, to experts in animal welfare and military matters.
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Major - General Peter Davies CB: was the Director-General of the RSPCA (19912002), and then the Director General of The World Society for the Protection of
Animals(WSPA) (2002-2009). He trained at the Royal Military Academy,
Sandhurst, and later served in a number of high-profile senior appointments before
finishing his military career as General Officer Commanding Wales. He is currently
the (Honorary) Chairman of The Brooke Hospital for Animals and was the instigator
and driving force behind the current Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare.