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Indian conservationist wins top UK award
Charudutt Mishra has won the award for his work to save Himalayan snow leopards.
Eminent Indian conservationist Charudutt Mishra has won the prestigious Whitley Gold Award, the UK's top conservation award, for his work to save the last of the snow leopards of the Himalayan high altitudes from extinction.
Mishra was chosen for the honour, which carries a cash prize of 60,000 pounds, from a shortlist of ten finalists from India, Nepal, Belize, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica and Africa, Edward Whitley, Founder and Chairman of the Whitley Fund for Nature, said here last night.
"He (Mishra) has had marked success with his project work in the Himalayan high altitudes, reducing the numbers of snow leopards killed as a result of growing tensions between predators and local communities.
"But for this, he has also set up his own NGO with other very capable young Indian conservationists who are spearheading efforts to protect wildlife and habitats across India," he said.
Whitley said the 34-year-old conservationist's innovation and drive have already made a big difference to the prospects for snow leopard survival and "we are excited to see Charu's work develop further over years to come."
The Whitley award was established by Edward Whitley, a disciple of Gerald Durrell, in 1994 to support passionate conservationists working in difficult conditions around the world.
Hunted for decades for their fur and now threatened by a demand for tiger bone substitutes in the Chinese medicine trade, snow leopards are an endangered species.
The leopard shares its home with many other unusual species, including Tibetan argali, ibex and wolf, all of which are also under threat.
Mishra, who has been working in a village in the Himalayas, south of Ladakh, said he found the survival of the snow leopard was being threatened by the twin problems of declining wild prey and human incursion.
With only 1,000 snow leopards in India as per the last official estimate, and only 4,000 in 11 other countries, Mishra said he set up a simple insurance scheme among communities whose livestock were being preyed on by snow leopards to reduce the number of big cats killed in retaliation.
Since his scheme was introduced, starting in the village of Kibber in the remote area where he is based, no snow leopards have been killed by hunters, Mishra claimed.
He has also negotiated conservation agreements to keep domestic livestock out of some areas, which has led to a recovery in the wild prey of the snow leopard.
Mishra has now set up his own conservation body with the help of other young Indian conservation scientists from across India.
