Balipara Foundation Awards 2017 - Winners Case Study

EASTERN HIMALAYAN NATURENOMICS FORUM 2017 TM

BALIPARA FOUNDATION AWARDS 2017 Saluting Real Stalwarts of the Eastern Himalayas

2017 BALIPARA FOUNDATION AWARDS Since 2013, Balipara Foundation has highlighted and invested in the efforts of societal entrepreneurs who are working tirelessly to create social, economic and environmental impact in protecting the essential natural resources and restoring the beauty of the Eastern Himalayas.

Through the Balipara Foundation Awards, we award, reward and recognize these extraordinary visionaries of the Eastern Himalayas and their indomitable contribution.

Our Awardees continue to live in harmony with nature and adopt sustainable methods for greening the economy. These Grassroots Leaders empower, engage& sensitize their communities towards environmental protection and create opportunities for rural livelihoods. Adopting new technologies and inventions with indigenous knowledge, they are the Custodian Experts of the biodiversity in their region. These entrepreneurs receive a Social Impact Recognition Award which comes with a Citation and a contribution to the organization or individual from Social Impact Recognition Fund of Balipara Foundation.

Past recipients of the Balipara Foundation Awards include stalwarts of the Eastern Himalayas such as Jadav Payeng, the Forest Man of Assam, who has single handedly planted a forest in the middle of a barren wasteland. Deben Bora, a ruthless Ranger under whose leadership, forests are an unsafe haven for poachers. Inspirational young environmentalists like taxonomist Thingam Girija, who has documented the oral heritage of the Eastern Himalayas and Sandeep Gurung of Oh My India (OMI) for fostering sustainable fashion & living. Mr.Jigme Dorji, with his seminal work on conservation of the critically endangered White-bellied Heron and ecotourism initiatives is truly a champion for trans-boundary cooperation in the Eastern Himalayas. Dr. Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha,foremost botanist and a hero of environmental conservation of endemic plant species in Nepal.

Through the Balipara Foundation Awards, we seek to focus the spotlight on these ecological crusaders and their work by publishing the casestudies of their work. Since inception, we have highlighted over 53 case studies ranging from the protection of endangered species and threatened habitats to the promotion of environmental education, tourism, products and services and development of community-driven conservation emphasizing the interdependence between nature and ecology.

We will honour and celebrate the success of the Real Stalwarts - people who've dedicated themselves to preserving the rich Bio- cultural Heritage of the Eastern Himalayas –––( 2 )–––

BALIPARA FOUNDATION AWARDS, 2017 - THE WINNERS AWARD CATEGORY

NAME

The Annual Balipara Foundation Award

Dhan Bahadur Gurung

Green Guru Award

Sourabh Deb

NaturenomicsTM Award

Sagir Ahmed

Green Journalist Award

Amit Patro

Eastern Himalayan Conservation Award

Joint Forest Management Committee Bhairabkunda

Young Naturalist Award

Hiskiya Sangma Krishna Boro

Food For the Future Award Omita Gaon Nature Conservancy

Tsuseki Yimchunger & Limthure Yimchunger

Award Bhutan Glory Eco Club Khagen Bhuyan Forest Rangers & Guards

Chakrapani Rai Jampel Lhendup

of The Eastern Himalayas

Zakhuma Don Santi Ram Chetry

Lifetime Service Award

Haokholet Kipgen

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THE ANNUAL BALIPARA FOUNDATION AWARD Presented to a person or an organization, whose contribution to the protection of wild nature has gone beyond the call of duty and which has displayed demonstrable success in the arena of nature conservation

Dr. Dhan Bahadur Gurung Bhutan An environmental steward, Dr. Gurung has made signicant impacts towards ecological sustainability. He is an environmental educator whose teachings have inspired a new generation of botanists to dedicate their lives towards socio-economic development of Communities and preservation of the environment. He has been instrumental in building credit worthy programmes such as B.Sc. in Environmental Science and Climate Change and M.Sc. in Natural Resources Management that have helped Institutions through revenue generation to meet capacity and infrastructure facility gaps. Major projects headed by Dr. Gurung include DANIDA-Bhutan and NRRHED-CNR. A species curator, he is the founding member of Bhutan Biodiversity Portal and is the rst National Professor who studied and published a book on Orchids of Bhutan. His research work on aquatic biodiversity conservation against hydropower development has inuenced the Government's policy to maintain at least one major river in the country free of hydropower dams. In the social sector, Dr. Gurung's work on ecotourism has been acknowledged by the government and many community –based ecotourism programs are initiated in his study sites that empower the local communities' socioeconomically.

For this, we honour him

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NATURENOMICSTM AWARD Presented to a green entrepreneur whose nancial and ecological success has proven to be sustainable model in which Economy & Environment goes hand in hand

Sagir Ahmed Assam Transforming waste coconut shells into intricate art pieces of jewelry and home decor, Sagir Ahmed is a Green Entrepreneur and owner of Dazzle Craft, who has used innovation & creativity to recycle and reuse a waste product. His craft has helped raise awareness on the valuable use of coconut shells of Assam and is a source of livelihood for self-help women groups. These women who would earlier burn or throw these coconut shells now collect them as raw material for his business in exchange for a steady source of income. His eco-friendly craft pieces are also sought after by many e-commerce website, retailers and wholesalers who buy these products & sell them through their sales platforms. The products are biodegradable and hence non-hazardous and environment friendly. Sagir Ahmed aims to utilize coconut shell as a valuable currency and for his contribution to nature, we award him today.

For this, we honour him

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GREEN JOURNALIST AWARD Presented to the green journalist for their outstanding coverage of community conservation in and around ecologically fragile wilderness

Amit Patro Sikkim Amit Patro, an indomitable Journalist has been the pioneer of the culture of daily newspapers in Sikkim from 2003. Through the platform of Sikkim Express, he continues to bring to light several environmental causes, local stories, grievances of the local people and recognize local heroes in the pursuit of socio-economic empowerment of these societies and communities. His contribution towards the growth of media in Sikkim has been enormous. An active member of the Lions Club of Gangtok, he has effectively raised funds for the medical treatment of several poor and underprivileged individuals. Conferred with Sikkim Sewa Samman, the highest civilian award, by the Sikkim Government for his contributions to advancement of media in Sikkim, he continues to report relentlessly on the environmental issues of Sikkim and highlighting NGOs that help preserve the environment. To this effect, he has dedicated pages to Environment storytelling in Sikkim Express.

For this, we honour him

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EASTERN HIMALAYAN CONSERVATION AWARD Presented to an individual, community or organization that has created signicant impact in protecting the biodiversity in the Eastern Himalayas which millions of people depend on for their sustenance

Joint Forest Management Committee Bhairabkunda Assam Amid the gloom of large scale deforestation in the Udalguri region of Assam, 6 villages on the India-Bhutan border at Bhairabkunda have come together to regenerate a stretch of barren sandy forest land. This Joint Community Conservation Initiative under the Committee name “Sonai Rupa” has regenerated 500 hectares of deforested land to a picturesque man-made forest that was planted with 10 lakhs of sapling and now serves as a shelter to wild elephants, deers, monkeys, leopards, bears along with various species of ora. A small river with several canals -a few of those man-made runs throughout the forest, providing replenishment for the green cover. Nature loving Committee members believe that with some support from the Bodoland Territorial Council, the area can be developed as an ideal eco- tourism hub. The restoration has led to conservation of much needed forest products for local use, food and medicine, meets the increasing demand for ecosystem services and generates livelihoods for the Communities.

For this, we honour them

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GREEN GURU AWARD Presented to a 'green teacher' whose purpose in life is to inspire young people to respect, learn about and protect nature. The individual should have leadership qualities, including missionary zeal, passion and dedication so that others may seek to emulate his or her example

Sourabh Deb Tripura Dr. Sourabh Deb is a Professor at the Tripura University, arguably the only University in India where Forestry and Biodiversity is taught as a subject in Masters programme. Being a teacher of this discipline, he guides his students, who are mostly from rural communities, on the value of solution based forestry and biodiversity research in tune with the emerging global concerns on the degradation of our Nature Capital and our Natural Assets. With a special focus towards sensitizing his students towards nature and developing a genuine love and appreciation for the natural world, he is moulding future Green leaders to contribute to community and biodiversity conservation. A rm believer that research based teaching approach should be related to the economic upliftment of the students, the research outcome of his work is ultimately reaching to the users' like, forest dwellers, farmers/orchardists, State Forest and other allied departments and different voluntary organization.

For this, we honour him

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YOUNG NATURALIST AWARD Presented to a young boy / girl (age 18 to 28) whose life has been dedicated to the protection of nature. These individuals are agents of change and thought leaders of tomorrow

Hisikiya Sangma Assam Hisikiya Sangma was a part of Ecosystem India and involved in Pigmy Hog Conservation Program. His videos helped the project authority to record the behaviour of this endangered animal. Besides this he has completed 2 documentaries “Life of a forest guard” and “Protected Area Community” for the State Forest Department, Assam. Currently associated with the NGO, MASK, he is playing an active role in natural resource management program in association with community. He is also involved in awareness programme conducted by MASK on forest conservation in rural areas.

For this, we honour him

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FOOD FOR THE FUTURE AWARD Presented to a visionary individual, who might be a scientist, NGO, villager or entrepreneur who has made a signicant contribution to the promotion of organic food, or has demonstrated alternative farming methods that increase yields using ecological principles that have brought about replicable change

Krishna Bodo Assam What began as an initiative by one man in the village, 37-year-old Krishna Bodo is yielding economic returns for other farmers in up to 3 villages, who are replicating the same model of sustainable farming to grow Papayas in the village. Farmers of the Bhogdabari village near Boko in Assam are transforming barren 61 bighas of land through sustainable farming into organic Papaya elds. The farmers are now being linked to creating a Farmer Producer Organization, an important initiate undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture to promote and strengthen member-based institutions of farmers, who will provide the necessary skill building and training, raw material and machinery and nancial advice. With the yield and consequent economic return, the farmers have a sustainable livelihood while equally benetting the environment.

For this, we honour him

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NATURE CONSERVANCY AWARD Presented to a visionary individual, who might be a scientist, NGO, villager or entrepreneur who has made a signicant contribution to the promotion of organic food, or has demonstrated alternative farming methods that increase yields using ecological principles that have brought about replicable change

Tsueki Yimchunger & Limthure Yimchunger Bhutan Glory Eco Club Nagaland In the remote areas of NorthEast, in the Fakim village, hunting of Wildlife & Jhum Cultivation practice is causing rapid deforestation and degradation of the environment. In pursuit of inculcating pride in the youth of Nagaland towards the Natural heritage and the value of conservation for a more sustainable and equitable future for themselves, Tsuseki and Limthure started the Bhutan Glory Eco Club to include the youth in conservation with the mission “Shoot, but with camera, not gun”.

Their work has helped bring more focus to Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary which boasts of the endemic buttery species – Bhutan Glory. Along with community mobilization, awareness education and helping the forest department, they are expanding their domain to livelihood generation through horticulture and animal husbandry. They have played a very important role in all major activities of the forest department like Complete LED Village Program where Fakim Village became the rst complete LED village in Nagaland. As local role models and Grassroots Leaders, Tsuseki and Limthure continue to involve more and more youth in conservation through their persistence and commitment.

For this, we honour them

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FOREST RANGERS & GUARDS AWARD Presented to personnel of Forest Departments for their exemplary service towards the protection of Fauna and Flora in National parks and reserve forest of the Eastern Himalayas

Khagen Bhuyan Assam Forest Ranger Khagen Bhuyan is a man of extraordinary resilience. A Grassroots Leader, he has worked relentlessly to motivate fringe forest communities to desist from illegal exploitation of forest products, leading to a decrease in poaching incidents and has participated in numerous plantation drives to improve the Karbi foothills habitat. He has been actively involved in civil society efforts to improve the socio-economic condition of the area by helping the Community in conict management and lending support for building social mobility assets for them, thereby empowering them to protect the Elephants. Khagen Bhuyan is also the man behind the rst conviction in the region of poachers caught redhanded for illegal smuggling of forest products.

For this, we honour him

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FOREST RANGERS & GUARDS AWARD Presented to personnel of Forest Departments for their exemplary service towards the protection of Fauna and Flora in National parks and reserve forest of the Eastern Himalayas

Chakrapani Rai Assam Forest Ranger Chakrapani is a Range Ofcer in Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park at Orang. Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park is located in a strategic location, encircled by hostile immigrant population. The National Park is rich with rich with biodiversity- over 30 Bengal Tigers and about 100 rhinos. Mr. Rai has adopted a carrot and stick policy in handling the people, supports good people of the fringe villages and dominates the outlaws and poachers. He has established a good network of information and strikes with precision. A good ranger equivalent to a 1000 activists and a true leader, he has fearlessly lead anti-poaching operations and killed 8 poachers, arrested 38 and recovered 14 weapons.

A true hero he also involves himself in activities that enable socioeconomic development of forest fringe Communities.

For this, we honour him

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FOREST RANGERS & GUARDS AWARD Presented to personnel of Forest Departments for their exemplary service towards the protection of Fauna and Flora in National parks and reserve forest of the Eastern Himalayas

Zakhuma Don Mizoram A forest guard with the Mizoram Forest Department in the Dampa Tiger Reserve, Zakhuma is an extraordinary and quiet grassroots conservationist. Working in the dense rainforests and bamboo stands of the northeast, he spends weeks on anti-poaching patrols, whilst coordinating camera-trapping exercises for the department and diligently documenting the exquisite but little-known biodiversity and cultural heritage of the region. In 2015, he was selected as a fellow by the Green Hub and here, learnt the basics of video documentation and editing. Despite owning no personal equipment, and having very limited access to editing softwares and the internet, Zakhuma has created a breathtaking repository of natural history images. His spectacular portfolio of images is used by the department for conservation outreach, awareness and action.

For this, we honour him

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FOREST RANGERS & GUARDS AWARD Presented to personnel of Forest Departments for their exemplary service towards the protection of Fauna and Flora in National parks and reserve forest of the Eastern Himalayas

Jampel Lhendup Bhutan Jampel Lhendup is a forester by profession but he has taken special interest in the application of Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tools (SMART) in wildlife management. Through his effort, Royal Manas National Park has become the rst park in Bhutan to implement SMART approach of patrolling in 2013. Today, the SMART technique is replicated in all the protected areas and Divisional Forest Ofces in the country through technical support from Jampel. This initiative has helped inspire many other eld staff in the department to learn about the SMART software and the efcacy of wildlife protection and conservation has improved. The adoption of the software has led to cost efciencyand project support from international donors for capacity building of the eld staff. The SMART application for protection of wildlife and its habitat involves use of technology such as SMART phones. Today, Department of forests and Park Services has become rst department to use real time data logger smart phones to collect data.

For this, we honour him

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FOREST RANGERS & GUARDS AWARD Presented to personnel of Forest Departments for their exemplary service towards the protection of Fauna and Flora in National parks and reserve forest of the Eastern Himalayas

Santi Ram Chetry Assam A Forest Guard at the Kaziranga National Park, Santi Ram Chetry is a long-standing ofcer who has dedicatedly protected the inhabitants of the World Heritage Site. Due to his courage and self-networking many denite Rhino poaching attempts by the miscreants could be averted. His eld knowledge in terms of animal behaviours and its movements is unparalleled. Calm and composed in the gravest of situations, Chetry has been instrumental in guiding his team in the right direction for conservation of habitats and suggest measures that help conserve and maintain the rich ora and fauna of the National Park.

For this, we honour him

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LIFETIME SERVICE AWARD Presented to personnel of Forest Departments for their exemplary service towards the protection of Fauna and Flora in National parks and reserve forest of the Eastern Himalayas

Haokholet Kipgen Manipur Under the leadership of Haokholet Kipgen, FEEDS has adopted many innovative and unique community inclusive projects that makes the best use of our natural resources and brings into complementary relationship the needs of economic development with our living environment. The centre is of relevance not only to the Himalayan region and India but the world as a whole for its contribution towards development of Rural upland Agro-forestry, family base Tea Plantation, Commercial ower cultivation, conservation of orchids and extension service. The Center is the rst in India to grow Emu in cold regions and the rst in introducing Emu into North East. A major focus area for the organization is to impart education and facilitate rural livelihoods, skill training and capacity building for the millennials. In order to cope up with the prevailing deteriorating environment and economic conditions, FEEDS has introduced Silvi-AgriHorticulture plantation to preserve ecology and improve economy of the region.

For this, we honour him

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TH

5 RABINDRANATH BARTHAKUR MEMORIAL LECTURE By His Excellency Dr. Lobsang Sangay President of Central Tibetan Administration His Excellency Dr. Sangay is an expert on International Human Rights Law, Democratic Constitutionalism, and Conict Resolution. He has spoken at numerous of seminars around the world. He organized several major conferences among Chinese, Tibetans, Indians and Western scholars on China and Tibet, including two unprecedented meeting between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Chinese scholars in 2003 and 2009 at Harvard University.

In 2011, he was elected to the post of Sikyong, the democratically elected leader of the Tibetan people and political successor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, in an unprecedented and competitive democratic election in the Tibetan Diaspora.

On August 8, 2011, during the swearing–in ceremony of Sikyong, (Formerly Kalon Tripa) His Holiness the Dalai Lama said: “When I was young, an elderly regent Takdrag Rinpoche handed over Sikyong (political leadership) to me, and today I am handing over Sikyong to young Lobsang Sangay… In doing this I have fullled my longcherished goal.”

In May 2016, Dr. Sangay was re-elected as the Sikyong (termed as President from 2017 onwards) for the second consecutive term and at the swearing-in ceremony graced by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he unveiled the Five-Fifty Vision: Shaping Tibet's Political Future.

On June 15, 2016, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) presented a citation to Dr. Sangay to recognize and honor the democratic institution of the Central Tibetan Administration as envisioned by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Dr. Sangay was awarded Presidential Medal award by Salisbury U, Maryland, USA on 13 October 2015. He received the Gold Medal of the College Historical Society of Trinity College Dublin for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse by the Auditor of the Society, Ms Ursula Ni Choill.

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Dr. Sangay has penned Op-eds for many of the leading news-sites such as The guardian, Washington Post and The Hill to name a few. He continues to travel extensively around the world for speaking engagements and leads high-level diplomatic engagements and political advocacy for Tibet, thus keeping Tibet not only in the radar but also atop the global political discourse and agenda.

HONOURING GLOBAL LEGENDS Khun Sivaporn Dardarananda Elephant Reintroduction Foundation Thailand

Khun Sivaporn Dardarananda is a Secretary General of Elephant Reintroduction Foundation. Taking forward the vision of her Majesty Queen Sirikit, Khun Sivaporn Dardarananda has under his leadership and team of researchers, scientist, rangers and veterinarians successfully reintroduced captive elephants into the wild in Thailand. The Elephant Reintroduction Foundation was founded in 1996 by HM Queen Sirikit to reintroduce domesticated elephants into the wild, restore wild habitats with indigenous plants and wildlife, research and propagate knowledge about elephants and promote appropriate management of elephants in Thailand for their long-term survival. The initial fund was granted by Prince Philip, WWF International followed by ofcial registration of the Foundation. The Foundation is based in 3 forest Sanctuaries - Doi Pha Muang Wildlife, Kaeng Ka Charn and Mae Wa-Mae Wok National Parks Sanctuary. The total elephants reintroduced by the foundation is 84 until 2012. The elephants are acquired either through donation or purchase of captive elephants and reintroduced to protected forest habitat to live as wild elephants.

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HONOURING GLOBAL LEGENDS Priyanka Yoshikawa Miss World Japan, 2016 Japan Eastern Himalayan Elephant Princess, Priyanka Yoshikawa is the winner of the coveted Miss World Japan, 2016 title. A half Indian and a half Japanese, Priyanka represents the bio cultural heritage of both Japan and India. She is the brand ambassador of Balipara Foundation's Elephant Country.

She has a Laos National Certication, Cambodia for Elephant Training, is the Visit Kyoto Ambassador and the ofcial brand ambassador “Me for the World” charity saving bank box.

Parbati Barua Assam Parbati Baruah affectionately known as The Queen of Elephants, is the daughter of the legendary Prakhitish Chandra Baruah (Lalji) known for his knowledge and passion for elephants. She was initiated in to the eld of elephant management by her father and has earned recognition by Governments across the country for her knowledge of elephant conict management and her skills at handling both captive and wild elephants. The Assam Government appointed her the 'Honorary Chief Elephant Warden of Assam 'and the West Bengal Government appointed her the Course Director. She is also a member of the Asian Elephants Special Group of ICUN and a Member of the 'Man-Elephant Conict Task Force' of the Government of Assam.