INAUGURAL INTERNATIONAL BEST OF THE BEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The Green Flag Award has announced the winners of its inaugural International Best of the Best awards, recognising outstanding people and projects from parks and green spaces across 20 countries outside the UK.

The new awards celebrate excellence in park management, with winners selected by an international panel of Green Flag Award judges from the UK, Europe and the USA.

Among the recipients were the team at Kültürpark in Turkey, which won Team of the Year for its innovative use of technology and collaborative approach to managing a historically protected site. In the Employee of the Year category, Gail Hering of Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, USA, was recognised for her 26 years of work promoting native planting and influencing city-wide policy.

Ireland’s Wild Nephin National Park received the Best Habitat/Biodiversity Project award after delivering new habitats and environmental education initiatives that contributed to a 33% increase in visitor numbers.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Te Mata Park Trust won Best Local Community/Grassroots Project for its ‘Schools for Trees’ initiative, which encourages pupils to return and care for trees they have planted, helping to foster long-term environmental stewardship.

The awards were open only to international Green Flag Award sites, with separate UK awards having been judged earlier.