Mumbai: Ranthambore resident Govardhan Meena had gone to the forest in his home town when he was in Class V and was transfixed by a tiger he spotted there. At that moment, he decided he wanted to spend his life protecting wildlife and joined Kids For Tigers, an organisation started by Bittu Sahgal, editor of Sanctuary Asia . Today, he is a well-loved wildlife protection activist and the driving force behind spreading awareness of wildlife in his home town.
Mr. Meena is one of the eight people who will be awarded the 19th Sanctuary Wildlife Awards on Friday. The other seven awardees include a 15-year-old boy from Delhi, an Arunachal Pradesh native who works to keep tourist attractions clean, and an ‘eco-feminist’ who works with female farmers.
Speaking at an event in Mumbai to announce the awards on Thursday, Mr. Sahgal referred to the winners as ‘Dharti Sevaks’, and said their stories are a testament to the title.
Maitreya Sukumar (15) from Delhi, the youngest awardee who fell in love with birds at the age of four, said, “A friend gave me a book called Common Birds of India when I was five years old, and that got me hooked. I started reading a lot and going to places nearby just to watch birds. My parents were confused at first but later developed an interest in it. It was like a communicable disease.”
Puja Mitra, another awardee, spoke about the effects of having around 400 boats chase dolphins simply for the customers’ thrills. Ms. Mitra is working on making Dolphin-watching as an enterprise more eco-friendly by creating a bridge between ethical boat operators and conscious tourists. “People and boatmen are both unaware of the ecological consequences. We can’t just make boatmen accountable, as that would be unfair since it is their livelihood,” she said.
The sentiment of tourism-driven enterprises harming the ecosytem was also echoed by Iho Mitapo from Arunachal Pradesh, who has dedicated his life to keeping tourist attractions in his home town clean.
“Most of the tourists come with their own food, which leads to littering and harms the local businesses. They come with disposable plates but do not even dispose of them. There is a serious need for awareness among the people,” Mr. Mitapo said.
Other awardees include Rohit Choudhary from Assam, Nikita Pimple from Mumbai, Imran Siddiqui from Telangana, and Vandana Shiva from Delhi.
