PHILIPSBURG--Environmentalist Rueben Thompson is the recipient of the 2009 Euan P. McFarlane Award for Outstanding Environmental Leadership in the Insular Caribbean.

Thompson was nominated by Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) President Natalia Collier, supported by Paul Hoetjes of the Environment and Nature Department in Curaçao. The award was presented in Barbados on Monday.

As Thompson was unable to attend because of prior commitments, an EPIC board member collected the award for him at the annual general meeting of the Caribbean Conservation Association.

The Euan P. McFarlane Award was established in 1987 to provide recognition for persons demonstrating initiative, resourcefulness and leadership in promoting conservation and enhancement of the environment in the insular Caribbean, with priority given to the smaller islands of the Eastern Caribbean.

Euan P. McFarlane, after whom this award was named, was actively involved in environmental causes in the Caribbean until his death in 1983. He was a former treasurer and board member of the Caribbean Conservation Association, a trustee of the Island Resources Foundation, and a founding member of the St. Croix Landmarks Society.

Each McFarlane Award recipient receives an unrestricted US $1,000 cash award. The first award was presented in 1988. In the intervening years, similar recognition has been given to environmental leaders in St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, Dominica, Trinidad, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts, Nevis, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands and St. Vincent. The 2009 Award is the 18th bestowed and the first to be presented to an individual from the Netherlands Antilles.