Nairobi — The Nature Conservancy has honored the Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Centum Investments, James Mworia, for championing conservation of nature and advancing climate action in Kenya.

Mworia is one of three recipients globally of this year's Nature's Advocate Award.

The prestigious award is bestowed every year by The Nature Conservancy on its trustees who champion policies that address climate change and conservation challenges.

He was recognized for his role in promoting sustainable and inclusive conservation efforts that also created an innovative and lasting solution to food shortages in Kenya due to the severe drought.

"This award is really about connecting our work to outcomes and to improving the livelihoods of people. Conservation is not inconsistent with improvement of livelihoods, and that's the solution," Mworia said when he received the award from Senator Bill Frist, who also serves as chair of The Nature Conservancy's global board of directors, at a ceremony in Washington, DC.

The ceremony was held on the sidelines of The Nature Conservancy's recent Leadership Summit.

The summit brought together trustees and staff to discuss conservation and climate change-related issues with Congressional leaders.

"Africa is a place of rich biodiversity. Efforts to conserve this biodiversity, by champions like James, are inspiring and laudable. We all need to play our respective parts in conserving nature to attain the global goal of protecting 30 percent of the planet by 2030," The Nature Conservancy's Africa Program Regional Managing Director Ademola Ajagbe said.

Other winners of this year's Nature's Advocate Award are Chris Robinson, a livestock operator and long-time government leader from Utah in the US; and Lorelei Cloud, a Tribal Nations leader from Utah.