War Studies

Date of Publication: 02/02/2019 Description: In November 2018 The Marjan-Marsh Prize awarded by the Department of War Studies in partnership with the Marsh Christian Trust was presented to Milan Ruzic, President of the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia (BPSSS). This award is given annually to someone who has made an invaluable contribution to an area where conflict and conservation overlap. The Marsh Christian Trust was started in 1981 by businessman Brian Marsh to honour ‘unsung heroes’; since then the portfolio of awards has grown to over 70 across a wide spectrum that includes conservation, arts, heritage and social welfare. After the 1990’s Balkan wars, many of the paramilitary groupings morphed into criminal syndicates running everything from guns, humans, drugs, illegal cigarettes and more. A lesser known stream of illegal activity is the trade in wild birds, which are plentiful in the Balkans due to its location as a major fly-way between Africa and Europe. The trade is fuelled mainly in