Conservation

Nanda Kishor Bhujabal, an ex-poacher, has helped poachers of Mangalajodi village in Odisha quit hunting and work towards conserving migratory birds in Chilika Lake through his NGO, Sri Sri Mahavir Pakshi Suraksha Samiti

In 2017, Ganesan D from Chennai founded the Koodugal Trust, wherein he distributes handmade boxes to highlight the importance of creating nesting spaces for sparrows, whose population has been decreasing due to rapid urbanisation.

Villagers of Vadner Bhairav, located near Nashik, banded together to save their village from a water shortage by building ponds and barrages, growing grapes, and incorporating sustainable methods of farming to mitigate the crisis

Jagdish Kudiyal from Dehradun worked relentlessly by planting thousands of trees to revive a dying spring and recharge the groundwater table

Babita Rajput from Agrotha village in Madhya Pradesh convinced the villagers to dig a 12-feet wide trench to divert the rainwater to the village. Here’s how she went about it

Jayaditya Purkayastha from Guwahati is attempting to revive the black softshell turtles, native to the Brahmaputra River and parts of Bangladesh, by releasing the hatchlings in the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. He has revived 300 such turtles so far

Ganga Rajput from Chaudhury Khera village in Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh rallied the women in her community to revive the 1,000-year-old Baba Talab with the help of NGO Parmath Samaj Sevi Sanstha

Arvind Mishra, from Bhagalpur of Bihar, formed the Mandar Nature Club to save the Great Adjutant Stork from near extinction and created a safe habitat for the species with the help of locals

Ajay Sharma, founder of Sewa Welfare Society, has introduced check dams made using gunny bags, in Khunti district of Jharkhand

M Suraj from Chhattisgarh, along with the state forest department and NGOs confiscated over 150 animal traps from Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve to save wild cats