Lluís Guarner Board of the Valencian Government has given Manuel Costa Talens, emeritus professor of the Universitat de València, the 2016 award. Awarded with the Medal of the Universitat de València, Dr. Manuel Costa Talens has received unanimously this annual Award.

Dr. Costa has been awarded for his contribution to science since his incorporation to the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology and to the Department of Botany, where he developed a scientific production with great impact both at national and international scale. His work was specially targeted to the knowledge of flora and vegetation in the Valencian territory.

Professor Costa Talens has published numerous research works with regard to the study of the different ecosystems of flora and vegetation in the Valencian territory, evaluating their biodiversity in relation to the environment. His activity is reflected in his numerous publications referred to Sierra de Espadà, La Safor, La Marina Alta, the current state of the sea-flora and fauna of the Valencian Community’s littoral.
The importance of his work in the international sphere is demonstrated in the botanic campaigns carried out in Europe, United States and Canada, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, the study of the vegetation in the Andean Plateau, the coasts of Italy, Cyprus, The Peloponnese and Crete to investigate the conservation of the Mediterranean, etc.

Dr. Manuel Costa was Director of the Botanical Garden of the Universitat de València. Since 1987 he has transformed this site into a benchmark, not only as a garden in the city centre, but especially as a centre of research, environmental education and both national and international popular science. Later on, he was Vice-Principal of the university and was responsible of internationalisation and cooperation policy.

The Valencian Government has reported that the award will be given in spring at an academic event in the Valencian Library. Every year, the Lluís Guarner Board gives an award with its name that is worth 15.025,30 euros. It acknowledges literary creation and translation within the field of humanities, and it may be given to authors that have special bonds with the Valencian region.

The Valencian writer Lluís Guarner appointed the Valencian Government as the heir of its goods (with benefit of inventory). The Valencian Government must use the product of these goods to give an award, a pension or a grant with a cultural purpose and that has to be named after Lluís Guarner. To fulfil the writer’s wishes, a board has been created to approve the bases and organise a call for the award, as well as look after the initiatives that preserve and spread the work of Lluís Guarner Pérez.