The Hindu : Award for wildlife conservation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 30, 2003

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National

Award for wildlife conservation

By Our Staff Correspondent

Photo: V. Sudershan

The Union Environment and Forest Minister, T.R. Baalu, presenting the `Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award 2001', conferred posthumously on Ganga Ram Bishnoi, to his wife, Kishni Devi Bishnoi, in New Delhi on Thursday. — Photo: V. Sudershan

NEW DELHI MAY 29. The first Amrita Devi Bishnoi National Award for Wildlife Conservation was today conferred posthumosuly on Ganga Ram Bishnoi of Chirai village in Jodhpur by the Union Environment and Forests Minister, T.R. Baalu.

On August 12, 2000 Ganga Ram chased some hunters who had killed a `chinkara' (deer) and was shot dead.

The award comprising Rs. 1 lakh, a medal and a citation, has been instituted after Amrita Devi Bishnoi who had sacrificed her life along with 363 others for the protection of `khejri' tree in Khejrali village near Jodhpur in Rajasthan 273 years ago. Conservation of forest and wildlife is a religious tenet for the Bishnoi community and the award is in recognition of their commitment towards conservation.

The award presentation ceremony coincided with the inauguration of a national workshop on non-wood forest products, organised jointly by the Madhya Pradesh Minor Forest Produce Cooperative Federation and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The workshop will strive to formulate a national policy framework for management of non-wood forest products.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Baalu lamented that the non-wood forest products sector was not receiving the required level of investment and an authentic inventory of these products was yet to be compiled. He asked the States to develop a database of such products to avoid under-utilisation and over-exploitation of resources.

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