Shawshank Redemption
Oft in the midst of noise and haste, one tends to forget that there is a battle going on, a quiet, stealthy battle waged against that which cannot speak in its own defence – Nature. Irreplaceable ecosystems are being lost, too many species are going extinct to keep a count, and others are at the brink of extinction… floods and droughts have become permanent ‘seasons’ across the globe. And in this face of aridity and hopelessness, we have Earth Heroes who give silent Nature a voice, while risking their lives everyday for us. That is what makes them out of the ordinary. They give us hope for a better tomorrow. For our children, and our children’s children… For this, we honour them.
Earth Heroes Awards for the year 2002
P.K. Sen
P.K. Sen has served as Field Director of the Palamau Tiger Reserve, where he managed to consolidate the protection of the forests he loved in the face of insurgency, timber and poaching mafias and the legendary shortage of funds and equipment that define the state of Bihar. Best known for his tough-talking, efficient ways, he rose to become the Director of Project Tiger and in his tenure, he forced the government to accept the tiger crisis that it had been denying for years.
S.S. Notey
S.S. Notey has made a name for himself by his fearless and persistent efforts to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade in Maharashtra. Notey is the epitome of a committed forest officer, offering his very best to every responsibility and post he has been assigned to.
Rakesh Shukla
Trained in wildlife management at the Wildlife Institute of India, Rakesh Shukla did his Ph.D. on the wildlife ecology of Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh. A perfect combination of research and conservation, he won the Madhya Pradesh State Award for meritorious service in thefield of wildlife research and ecological monitoring for his work in the Kanha Tiger Reserve, where he has been posted for the past eight years.
Samir Acharya
Samir Acharya is the founder of the Port Blair-based Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology (SANE). This has been one of the most active environmental groups in the islands for more than a decade. Acharya has played a critical role in drawing attention to both the fragile environment and the threatened tribal communities of this precious and spectacular island ecosystem.
A.R.Bharati
For the last eight years, A.R. Bharati, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, has fought a pitched battle against politicians and slumlords looking to convert Mumbai’s city forest into valuable real estate. Today, there is a marked difference in the level of protection of the park, largely due to Bharati’s courage and convictions. Working with NGOs, government departments
J.S. Chauhan
Jasbir Singh Chauhan joined the Indian Forest Service in 1987. After training at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun and the National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, he was posted in Madhya Pradesh. In 1995, he took over as Deputy Director of the Kanha Tiger Reserve. During his three-year tenure, his contribution to the consolidation of the reserve’s management was significant.
Pandit Hanuman Sharma
Pandit Hanuman Sharma, or Panditji as he is simply known, has been unfolding a quiet revolution in and around the villages of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan. He is a teacher and has taken it upon himself to teach thousands of young children the connection between the survival of the tiger, its forests and the water sources upon which their lives and that of their domestic livestock are dependent.