Unsung wildlife hero to get Rs1 lakh cash prize

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Cricketers for Wildlife Conser vation wi l l host their 10th annual Wildlife Service Award on Saturday, which will include a Rs1 lakh cash prize for a forest watcher employed by the state’s forest department.

Fairoz, who is currently employed as a forest watcher in BRT (Biligirirangana Hills) tiger reserve bordering Tamil Nadu, will be felicitated by former India cricketer and current National Cricket Academy director VVS Laxman at the Global Academy of Technology campus, Rajarajeshwari Nagar in the city.

The forest watcher has been nominated for the Wildlife Service Award 2022 by the Karnataka Forest Department for his stellar service, which includes nabbing 22 poachers and rescuing 15 leopards. Three wildlife conservationists – Sunitha Dhairyam (Mariamma Trust, Bandipur Tiger Reserve), Akhilesh Chipli (Shivamogga) and Colonel CM Muthanna (Kodagu) – will also be felicitated by Laxman.

However, they won’t be receiving cash prizes from the organisation. Cricket coach and member of Cricketers for Wildlife Conservation Joseph Hoover said that as Fairoz did such excellent work and received a salary that wasn’t much, they decided to honour him for his services and help him out monetarily.

“Forest watchers are the lowest level employed with the Forest Department and they get very poor salaries and they’re neglected. We thought we should encourage them,” Hoover said. “He has done a lot of good work. What happens is that finally it is the (Forest) department that decides who is to be given (the award). They have a committee for the purpose,” he added.

Fairoz will be presented with a cash award for his meritorious service to forests and wildlife protection. Other forest protectors Sunitha Dhairyam is a conservationist who protects tigers and leopards when they inadvertently kill cattle. To ensure farmers don't poison animals, she pays on the spot compensation from her Mariamma Trust.

She lives in the immediate vicinity of Bandipur tiger reserve. Akhilesh Chipli is a wildlife activist from Sagar town and does most of his work in Shivamogga district. He has fought tooth and nail to protect the flora and fauna of the Western Ghats.

In collaboration with Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Suresh Kumar, he has successfully converted a barren 21-acre land into a verdant forest in Sagar. Colonel CP Muthanna has been at the forefront of environmental conservation of Kodagu district. He has been able to bring the people of Kodagu together to stop large-scale destructive projects in the Western Ghats.

He has also assisted the Forest department in recovering 4,000 acres of ecologically-sensitive forest landscape. He has also been working closely with the Karnataka Forest Department and committees on Human Elephant Conflict mitigation in Kodagu district.

Former Indian cricketers Sandeep Patil, Yusuf Pathan and Harbhajan Singh had conceptualised the award to motivate the unsung foot soldiers of the forests a decade ago.