Founded in 2015, Sanctuary Nature Foundation is an Indian non-profit foundation building on the work of Sanctuary Asia, a wildlife magazine that was launched in 1981 by Bittu Sahgal. It was founded with the express vision of shaping a world with abundant biodiversity, a sustainable climate and an equitable future for one and all through its publication and associated conservation projects. Sanctuary has always been more than just a magazine and has been at the fulcrum of several conservation initiatives over the years. Through the Foundation, it continues to highlight and support India’s Earth Heroes and be the wind under their wings in order to protect and safeguard the planet’s biodiversity. Sanctuary’s team works quietly behind the scenes on campaigns, projects and partnerships that have a direct impact on conservation efforts in the field. In this endeavour, Sanctuary works independently, and also collaborates with conservation-focused not-for-profits.
He was inspired by Fateh Singh Rathore, an Indian tiger conservationist and part of the first Project Tiger team, who urged him to educate the Indian citizen on the importance of wildlife conservation. The foundation is driven by the intellectual and creative efforts of changemakers from diverse professions; it is run by a network of conservationists, naturalists, scientists, writers and photographers through their involvement in environmental policy, advocacy, science, on-ground support, wildlife habitat management and more.
Here’s a look at some of the conservationists associated with this organisation :
I.Vinod Rishi, Dehradun
He has worked for the management and conservation of several pristine sanctuaries and reserves, including the Sunderban Tiger Reserve, Buxa Tiger Reserve, Singalila National Park, Neora Valley National Park, Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Darjeeling Zoo. Such experiences taught him about animal biology and helped him launch successful wildlife conservation projects such as a captive breeding programme for snow leopards in Southeast Asia, and the Red Panda Conservation Programme in Singalila National Park. He had been a Founding Faculty Member of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), and also served as Director of the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy. He is now based in Dehradun where he continues to work for the protection of India’s biodiversity.
II. Nehara Pandey, Goa
Hailing from the state of Goa, Nehara Pandey is a true water baby, who forged a deep connection with the ocean from a very young age. She received an Open Water Diver certification at the tender age of 11 and is now a trained rescue diver, emergency first responder, windsurfer, and sailor. Her short film entitled ‘Seventy’, about the effects of ocean pollution, was screened at The Goa Science Centre and at The People Tree, Goa. She has volunteered actively with various organisations such as The Primate Trust, WWF- Goa, Jeevan Jyothi, and Coastal Impact.
She was felicitated at The National Institute of Oceanography for ‘Initiative by a young person in the field of ocean conservation’ in 2015 and was Ambassador for the year 2014-2015 under the Tetra Pak Youth Ambassador Programme organised by TERI. She also represented India at the World Ocean’s Day Organisation’s International Youth Advisory Council from 2016-2018. From September 2019, she became the youngest climate correspondent for the Youth Ki Awaaz platform. Pandey aims to study marine biology and continue fighting for our oceans.
III. Taukeer Alam, Uttarakhand
As a child of the nomadic Van Gujjar community, Taukeer Alam grew up in the lap of nature, around the Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand. Even though he dropped out of school after the 8th grade, his profound interest in wildlife provided him with a chance to work under a group of researchers from the Centre for Ecological Sciences. Under their tutelage, Alam learnt how to conduct surveys, and monitor the behaviours of birds. Currently hailed as one of the top birdwatchers of Uttarakhand on e-bird (an online database of bird observations from around the world), he is now engaged as a field assistant with the Nature Science Initiative, Dehradun. He believes that rural children deserve to be exposed to nature conservation from a young age, and so he conducts educational awareness activities for schools and the children of his community.
IV. Laxmi Maravi, Madhya Pradesh
Laxmi Maravi was born in the small village of Ajhwaar in the Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh. She was the first woman from her village to join the Forest Department. She patrolled vast areas of the Kanha Tiger Reserve, and built a lifetime of memories in the field, including one memorable encounter that found her facing a wild boar attack equipped with nothing but an umbrella! Her educational background, familiarity with languages and knowledge of nature, has made her an ideal candidate for Kanha’s Nature Education Programme. Today, she herself conducts this outreach programme for school children across the region. For the last two years, she has been in charge of organising and conducting educational tours for students at Kanha’s buffer zone schools. She has also been involved in assisting resettled Baiga tribals to produce Baiga Jewellery as an alternative source of income for Baiga women. She is also actively involved in the anti-poaching programmes conducted by Kanha Tiger Reserve.
V. Abhijit Rabha, Assam
Growing up in the indigenous Rabha community in Assam, Abhijit Rabha had felt deeply connected to nature right since childhood. So far the only member of his community to be inducted in the Indian Forest Service, he has dedicated his life to the protection of the forest, wildlife and communities of northeast India. In his capacity as an ACF (Assistant Conservator of Forests), Abhijit has aided in the prevention of timber poaching in the Nagaon Forest Division. He has been actively involved in the restoration of the Manas National Park during his engagement with Project Tiger. Rabha was able to clamp down on the illegal trade of wild deer, monkeys, bears, porcupines, tigers, and exotic birds in the regions he has served, catching dozens of poachers red-handed. However, enforcing any radical measure inevitably comes with its share of risks. He was met with seven assassination attempts, and was once, in March 2012, abducted by the Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers (KPLT) militants. Rabha truly epitomises valour and integrity - two traits that are in short supply in the rest of the world.
VI. Arun Prasad, Uttarakhand
A 29-year-old man from the Bangsil village of the Garhwal District of Uttarakhand, Arun Prasad was trained as a beekeeper at Khadi Gram Udyog from the tender age of 8. Later on, he went on to win a national science project award for bee-keeping. After completing a B.Sc from Garhwal University in 2015, he was disappointed to see his classmates leave their beautiful hometown in search of menial jobs in the city. To provide a solution to the problem of migration, he set up the Devalsari Paryavaran Sanrakshan Awam Tekniki Vikas Samiti to instil a sense of pride within the community. Through this initiative he started a sustainable livelihood and conservation programme, propagating eco-tourism, bird-watching, butterfly watching, nature trail walks, trekking, local cuisine and heritage appreciation. As an ode to his bee-keeping roots, Arun has also trained hundreds of farmers in Uttarakhand in bee-keeping techniques, providing an additional income source to many.
VII. Chandni Gurusrikar, Karnataka
A software engineer by qualification, Chandni Gurusrikar began her career in wildlife conservation in 2008, when she started volunteering for conservation projects across the Bandipur, Nagarahole and Bhadra Tiger Reserves. Chandni, along with her team of able volunteers, focuses on community conservation through intensive awareness workshops,
multi-level stakeholder engagements, wildlife research, conservation training for youths and initiatives to mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) in the region. Aside from preserving the landscape and wildlife of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Chandni is a fierce protector of the others who put their lives on the line for the sake of our collective ecological security. In 2017, she spearheaded a campaign to support forest department staff who had been illegally framed in a shootout against poachers inside the forest. She was also instrumental in raising funds for a forest watcher, Mahadev, who lost his life during an elephant driving operation.
VIII. Debadityo Sinha, Uttar Pradesh
Debadityo Sinha developed an ambition to conserve the environment and ecology of Mirzapur when he was a student of Environmental Sciences at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi. Upon graduation in 2012, he set up the Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation. Sinha has actively worked and succeeded in reviving waterfalls in
Mirzapur, for which he was recognised with a ‘Best Story Award’ by ‘Development Alternative’ under ‘The City I Want’ Campaign. He has also undertaken specialization in Tropical Forest Restoration from Yale University and worked with organizations such as Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, Wildlife Fund for Nature-India, Wildlife Trust of India, Earth Matters Foundation and Duleep Matthai Nature Conservation Trust.
A compassionate environmentalist, he helps other activists in preparing scientific grounds for environmental litigations related to dams, coal and power projects in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Sinha’s current focus is the protection of Mirzapur’s forests and the declaration of a sloth bear conservation reserve in the region. He recently completed a camera trap survey of three forest ranges and authored a report on the findings in support of the proposed notification.
IX. Kheer and Mahilabai Pardhi
Kheer Babu and Mahila Bai, both members of the Pardhi nomadic tribe, are torchbearers of wildlife conservation in their community. Traditionally a wildlife hunting community, the Pardhis were employed in assisting the British and rich Indian zamindars on sport hunts. Post
independence, the community’s work was deemed illegal and it became synonymous with poaching. However, over the past decade, the Pardhis have begun to move away from hunting, in large part due to Kheer and Mahila’s incessant advocacy, with the help of an initiative by the Panna Forest Department, WWF India and Sarava Shiksha Abhiyan. They are also actively engaged in scouting for eligible children to join the Pardhi hostel and school and educating their community on the ill effects of hunting. Mahila Bai along with her husband Batal Pardhi, and Kheer Pardhi along with his wife Kunti, have been instrumental in nurturing the students at the boys and girls’ hostels respectively. Their guidance has led several students to academic success. Their enduring work has also resulted in a considerable decline in the hunting of big cats and other animals in the Panna district.
Feature Image Credit: Sanctuary Asia & Scroll
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