The winners of the 2015 AEWA Waterbird Conservation Award are: l’Association Inter-Villageoise du Ndiaël (the inter-village association of the Ndiaël) in the institutional category and Abdoulaye N’Diaye in the individual category. The Association Inter-Villageoise du Ndiaël was established in 2004 and brings together 32 villages surrounding the special wildlife reserve of the Ndiaël. Based in Ross-Béthio, Senegal, it has 800 members and its main aim is to allow local communities to carry out activities that aim to restore the wildlife living in the reserve. With an area of 46,550 hectares, Ndiaël is a Ramsar site and a central hub of the transborder Senegal River Delta biosphere reserve. It has also been identified as a critical site for migratory waterbirds, in the framework of the Critical Sites Network (CSN) Tool.
In 2009, the United Kingdom proposed the creation of a new award category: the ASCOBANS Lifetime Award, in addition to the Outreach and Education Award first given in 2005.