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 2004
K.M. Chinnappa’s
name is synonymous with wildlife conservation in Karnataka. For over 30 years, he has worked to defend the forests and wildlife of the state. In the 1970s and 1980s, he confronted the poaching and timber mafia in the Nagarahole National Park and virtually eliminated poaching in the core of the park. Because of his uncompromising principles, his family was threatened and his home burnt down. After voluntarily retiring from the forest service, he continued his conservation crusade along with Wildlife First, an NGO that he heads. His ardent defence of Karnataka's wilds has not gone down well with those profiting from timber and iron ore. Chinnappa has been the victim of a vilification campaign, but false cases and harassment have not affected him.He fights on for the forests and wildlife he loves.
Manglu Baiga
has spent his entire life in the jungles of the Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. A child of nature, Manglu is a master tracker and his skills have helped many tiger experts refine their own techniques. When the Kanha Tiger Reserve was declared in the 1970s, Manglu helped Project Tiger officials to explore these fabled meadows and mountains. Manglu possesses incredible wisdom and knowledge and typifies the riches that India's remnant tribal cultures have to offer us.
Niren Jain
An architect and a native of the Bajagoli village near Kudremukh, Niren has been actively involved in conservation efforts since 1998. He has worked on camera trapping and mapping surveys in Kudremukh. He successfully campaigned against the destruction of rainforests by iron ore mining in the park and helped secure a decision from the Supreme Court to end mining within the park by 2005. Niren also oversaw a voluntary resettlement effort that helped people to move out of the park, benefitting
Charudutt Mishra and Aparajita Dutta
are a husband-and-wife team whose life’s purpose is the study and protection of India’s wildlife. Charudutt specialises in high-altitude wildlife and Aparajita works in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh. In 2003, they jointly undertook an expedition into the remote mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, which resulted in the discovery of the Chinese goral, a new record for the subcontinent. They also discovered the ‘Tawang macaque’, that is new to science.
Pankaj Sharma
He has served as a Forest Ranger in the Assam Forest Department for over two decades.
In 1990-91, he was posted at the Laokhowa Sanctuary, then in the grip of armed miscreants. He was singled out for attack on numerous occasions and was almost killed. Between 1993 and 1997, he was part of a crack team in charge of the Kaziranga National Park, when armed poachers were rampant.
Ratan Singh
has worked in the Keoladeo Ghana National Park at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, for 25 years, first as a boatman and now as a rickshaw puller and guide. He has evolved to become one of India's most accomplished bird experts, respected even by the likes of the late Dr. Sálim Ali. He has personally seen and identified more than 500 out of India's over 1,200 recorded bird species. More importantly, he understands birds, particularly their nesting habits.
Sonam Wangchuk
is the founder of the Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL). Recognising that modern education has displaced young Ladakhis from their environment and traditional sustainable lifestyles, Wangchuk and SECMOL are working to reverse this trend through revitalised education and the sensitisation of students and teachers. He also helps publish ‘Ladakh's Melong’, a magazine that highlights environmental and developmental issues of this beautiful mountain region.
Maan Barua
has grown up in and around Kaziranga. He has turned out to be one of India's most promising naturalists and ornithologists. He has been an intrinsic part of field surveys that studied pheasants in Arunachal Pradesh, eagles in Ladakh and the birdlife of remote wildernesses such as Arunachal's Mishmi and Meghalaya's Garo Hills. He works with Assamese youth to awaken their interest in Assam's vanishing natural heritage.
Rahul Alvares
is a naturalist, author and snake expert all in one. He took a break after completing his 10th standard to work at the Madras Crocodile Bank and Pune's Snake Park, where he learned the basics of snake-handling and identification. This was the subject of his first book ‘Free From School’ at the age of 17. On his return to Goa, Rahul conducted snake talks in schools and colleges and also joined the turtle conservation programme at Morjim.
Aaron Savio Lobo
is obsessed with snakes, particularly sea snakes. He did a one-year dissertation on the distribution and status of snakes in coastal Goa. He then won a scholarship to do his M.Sc. in Wildlife Science from the Wildlife Institute of India. A six-month study to estimate the diversity and mortality of sea snakes in Goa won him the respect of India's finest wildlife conservation biologists and an award from the University of Cambridge.
Indrapratap Thakare
Villagers living in Melghat and Tadoba, Maharashtra, call him “the boy with the stick”. Indrapratap's life is defined by the wild habitats he lives to defend. Two years ago he helped the forest department to crack down on an illegal operation to extract musali medicinal plants from the Melghat Tiger Reserve. Here he also helped identify and study a population of Forest Owlets, once presumed extinct. He has studied the endangered Great Indian Bustards in Nanaj, Sholapur and tracked wild buffaloes along the Indravati river.