In 2011, the fifth year of the Earth Hour campaign, WWF-Australia introduced the WWF Earth Hour Awards to celebrate the grassroots efforts of everyday Australians going ‘beyond the hour’ for the planet.
As we enter the second year of the Awards, we're pleased to re-launch last year's favourite categories, the Education, Young Panda and Futuremakers Awards. We're also happy to introduce a few new ones. Read on for more information on each category and how to apply for 2012.

Education Award

© WWF-Australia

There's no doubt that education is vital to nurturing the environmental consciousness of our young people. In 2012, WWF continues to celebrate the important role that schools are playing in empowering students to create a sustainable future.

A rhinoceros killed for its horn last year in Vietnam is now considered to have been the last of its subspecies.

A recent article in the New York Times about the work Stanford University biology professor Gretchen Daily is doing in Africa and Costa Rica highlights the importance of ecosystem services, or putting a value on ecosystems. Daily co-founded the Natural Capitalism Project (NCP) in November 2006. NCP, as Daily told the New York Times, works to "quantify in biophysical and dollar terms the value of conserving the forest and its wildlife."

An infant mountain gorilla was rescued from poachers in Rwanda in August 2011 with help from a partnership made up of WWF, African Wildlife Foundation and Fauna & Flora International. A group of Rwandan and Congolese men were attempting to smuggle the female, less than one-year old, into Rwanda from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The smugglers responsible were arrested and an investigation into a possible larger network is underway. The rescue is positive news, but it also brings light to the issues of illegal poaching and wildlife trade.

Polar bears have been spotted carrying their cubs on their backs while they swim through icy waters, according to an article in UK online newspaper the Telegraph. According to the article, the practice is thought to be the result of the bears having to swim longer distances in the sea because of recent reductions in the arctic summer sea ice.