TOFTigers, India’s leading advocate for responsible wildlife
tourism held its 2nd Wildlife Tourism Awards last night at the
Ambassador hotel in New Delhi.
“What we have always said is that India does have many
inspiration people and businesses involved in the nature tourism sector,
changing lives, saving forest and wildlife and supporting people, often
overlooked in the heated debate of the present tourism ban,” says the TOFT awards
founder, Julian Matthews. “If all nature tourism was like this, India’s
wildlife tourism would not be in its present impasse.”
Winners include superb naturalists, NGO’s funded by tourism,
now treating 90,000 patients on the borders of a tiger reserve, park guides
that spend their spare time training and educating, private sanctuaries that
have restored fabulous waterfalls and stitched back two parks on its
boundaries, beautiful tiger reserves with blooming tiger populations and lodges
that now have resident wildlife and even tigers in their restored landscapes.
This is the future of nature tourism.
It is already here and we all need to ensure such
inspirational examples are replicated across India in the future.
Full details below.
LODGE NATURALIST OF
THE YEAR 2012
Winner: Rajesh Bhatt - Jim's Jungle Lodge- Corbett, Uttarakhand
At 40
Rajesh Bhatt is an extraordinary guide and conservationist who is almost
entirely self-taught and is presently taking a Masters course in environment
and ecology from Manipal University. He
has great botanical knowledge, is a good birder and his passion for
conservation sees him teaching and training forest guards and panchayat heads.
He runs ecotourism courses across India. He set up his own NGO that help train
fellow guides and school kids called ‘Rainbow’.
Contact: rajeshbhatt0@rediffmail.com
WILDLIFE PROMOTION
COMPANY OF THE 2012
Winner: &Beyond India
& Beyond is
run by naturalists and experts who had their roots in wildlife and guiding with
a real sensitivity to Eco Tourism. They
have had the benefit of a large organisation to promote them, but have used
this to help put India
on the map as a wildlife destination, across the globe.
WILDLIFE TOURISM
COMMUNITY INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR 2012
Winner: Prakratik
Society- Ranthambore
The
Prakratik Society was founded by Goverdhan Singh Rathore . For the past 20
years the society has been working with local communities living around the
Ranthambhore National Park providing health care with two hospitals serving
over 90,000 patients a year, a top school with 250 pupils dairy development and alternate energy all aimed
to encourage sustainable co-existence of people with the wilderness environment
on their doorstep. All of it supported and often funded by tourism.
WILDLIFE AND
TOURISM INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR 2012
Winner: Wildernest - Goa
Wildernest have
created a large 450 acre private sanctuary, a vital Tiger corridor between Mahdei
Wildlife in Goa and the Bhimgad Wildlife sanctuary in Karnataka, and now they
are trying to get their Swapnagandha Valley designated as part of these Tiger
Reserves. Originally saved from mining interests, these areas have become tiger
corridors and Wildernest presence has helped stitch back this area and curbed
poaching threat over a long period of time.
VISITOR FRIENDLY
WILDLIFE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR 2012
Winner: Ranthambhore Tiger
Reserve - Rajasthan
Ranthambhore is now
an excellent wildlife experience, and has a blooming tiger population. Visitor
numbers are close to 150,000 but the tourism is managed by opening up
more areas with fewer vehicles, greater sensitivity, better cooperation between
tourism, guides and park management and good use of NGO’s to support park
management and communities. Thanks to converting 10 cattle herders to guides, a
whole new part of the park has seen a new generation of tigers arrive after 25
years.
THE BILLY ARJAN
SINGH MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST WILDLIFE GUIDE OF THE YEAR 2012
Joint
Winner: Yadvendra Singh Rajawat - Ranthambhore
Yadvendra
has worked in Ranthambhore for 20 years and been the President of the Guide
Association for ten of these years. He is dedicated to Ranthambhore, and a
preferred guide to a number of well-known operators. He is a regular volunteer on Census operations
and works closely with the management team to root out bad practices. He runs many training programmes for new
guides and takes part in anti-poaching patrols and fire service when necessary.
Joint
Winner: Vipal Jain - Ranthambhore
Vipal
has worked in park since 1993 and has been involved with a number of travel companies
and their NGO’s that run projects in and around the area the Tiger Awareness charity.
THE JOHN WAKEFIELD
MEMORIAL AWARD FOR MOST INSPIRATIONAL ECO LODGE OF THE YEAR 2012
Joint
Winner: Mahua Kothi - Bandhavgarh
Run by &Beyond (Tajsafaris)
since 2006, it’s 26 acres have a small and aesthetically well placed building footprint
that borders an important corridor between the Tala and the Khitauli range of
the park, and allows the remainder free range for wildlife. It is run by an Ex
WII wildlife biologist Neel Gogate and his team. The lodge involves the local community in its
work, provided world class training to all staff, and also supports many
projects including helping reintroduce the wild Gaur back into Bandhavgarh.
Joint
Winner: Tiger Trails Jungle Lodge Tadoba
Started
in 1996 this lodge is an really good example of how tourism can transform life,
turning barren land and dried up stream beds back to life to create a haven for
wildlife. It’s based on 30 acres of land, of which the building footprint is
kept to a small area with a further 9 restored to wildlife. Its effect has been
the transformation of the park area too, with decreasing in poaching,
restoration of rivers and trees and bountiful wildlife has returned and new and
stable livelihoods for bordering communities.
