London : Indias Bilal Habib was named as one of the six winners of the UNESCOs most prestigious Young Scientist Awards for 2013.The International Co-ordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme made the announcement , which met at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris from May 27 to 30.

Habib won the award for designing and developing an Ecological Monitoring Programme involving local communities in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand, sources said.

The MAB programme has been granting awards of up to USD 5,000 to each winner since 1989. These grants are  proposed  to encourage young researchers to undertake work on ecosystems, natural resources and biodiversity. An additional two special awards have been financed by the Austrian MAB Committee since 2010.

The 2013 laureates of Young Scientist Awards in the MAB programme were selected from all over the world.