Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife
Conservation Award 2009 has been conferred upon Shri S. P. Yadav, Deputy Inspector General in National Tiger
Conservation Authority . The Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award 2010 was conferred
upon in individual to
Shri Saurabh Gupta and Shri Gaurav Gupta and in institutional
category to Shri Dadu Paryavaran Sansthan of District Tonk in Rajasthan.
These awards were given away on the occasion
of birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Shri
Rajiv Gandhi by the Secretary (Environment and Forests) Dr V. Rajagopalan .
The award presentation ceremony coincided with the inauguration of the
consultation workshop on “Developing Strategies for Mitigation of Human-Animal
Conflicts”, organized by the Ministry of Enviornment
& Forests and Wild Life Institute of India at India Habitat Centre. Dr. K.
Jude Sekar, Director General of Forests and Special
Secretary, Dr. S. S. Garbyal, Additional Director
General of Forests (Wildlife), senior forest and wild life officers from the
State Government all over the country and members of Civil Society from the
wildlife fraternity participated. The Minister of State for Environment and
Forests Smt Jayanthi Natarajan has congratulated
the winners of the Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award 2009 and the Amrita
Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award 2010.
The Rajiv
Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award was conferred upon Shri S. P. Yadav, Deputy Inspector General in National Tiger
Conservation Authority for cracking a hub of thriving illegal trade in wildlife
specimens, during his tenure as Divisional Forest Officer, Agra in 2007-08. He
was instrumental in major seizure of almost 30,000 wildlife specimens, including
a large number of endangered species, in close coordination with the local
Police and Special Task Force of Utter Pradesh for successful prosecution of
the offenders.
The enormity of this seizure highlighted
the scale of thriving illegal trade in lesser known endangered species of
wildlife, and its networking for their use in educational institutions. It
served as an eye opener and fostered the much needed awareness amongst local
people, eventually leading to considerable reduction in demand for such
specimens.
The Amrita
Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award-2010 in
individual category was conferred upon Shri Saurabh Gupta and Shri Gaurav Gupta for their significant contribution for
protection of Wildlife. The awardees have
been assisting government authorities in detection, apprehension and
prosecution of large number of offences under the Wild Life (Protection) Act,
1972 in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab,
Himachal Pradesh, and Haryana and Union Territory of Delhi. The efforts of Shri Saurabh Gupta and Shri Gaurav Gupta, made at
considerable personal risks, have strengthened the enforcement of wildlife laws
in the concerned States, resulting in check on wildlife crime.
The Amrita Devi Bishnoi
Wildlife Protection Award in institutional category was conferred upon Shri Dadu Paryavaran
Sansthan of District Tonk
in Rajasthan. The organization made remarkable contribution not only in saving
the endangered wild animals, especially black bucks, from poachers, but also by
working continuously for developing suitable habitat for them. They have worked
for conservation and protection of black bucks and have raised awareness for
the cause.
RM/