Sanctuary Asia

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Sanctuary Asia
Sanctuary-Asia.jpg
Editor Bittu Sahgal
CategoriesWildlife, conservation, ecology
FrequencyMonthly (including editions for young readers)
Year founded1981
CompanySanctuary Nature Foundation
CountryIndia
Based inMumbai
Website www.sanctuarynaturefoundation.org/magazine

Sanctuary Asia is an Indian nature and wildlife conservation magazine founded in 1981 by Bittu Sahgal, its current editor. [1] The magazine expanded in 2015 to become established as a non-profit foundation (Sanctuary Nature Foundation).

Contents

Sanctuary Nature Foundation also publishes other conservation-focused reading material, like coffee table books and national park guides.

History

Editor Bittu Sahgal founded the magazine Sanctuary Asia in 1981 at the suggestion of Fateh Singh Rathore, the Field Director of Ranthambore National Park, urging him to educate the Indian citizen on the importance of wildlife conservation. [2] After receiving support nationwide, a second magazine was launched in 1984 for a younger audience, Sanctuary Cub. [3]

In the 1980s, Sanctuary Films produced the television shows Project Tiger and Rakshak. [4]

In the early 1990s, the magazine began to syndicate some of its articles to reach a wider audience. [5] the Sanctuary Photo Library [6] was founded in 1990.

Since 2000, the organization has run several projects, including the Kids For Tigers programme, which has reached rural and urban children across 500 schools in 20 Indian cities through nature walks, fests and workshops. [7]

It was in 2015 that Sanctuary Asia established Sanctuary Nature Foundation, the nonprofit foundation that now publishes the magazines and several other publications and also leads conservation projects. [8]

Publications

Both Cub and Asia publish six editions a year each.

Sanctuary Asia

Its first edition was published in October 1981. The bi-monthly publication prints stories and photographs by scientists, conservationists, naturalists, photographers, filmmakers and writers. The primary aim of the magazine is to communicate the urgent rationale for environment protection.

Sanctuary Cub

First published in 1984 by its current editor Tara Sahgal, Sanctuary Cub was begun with the belief that a love for the environment and keen interest in conservation needs to be instilled in every child at a young age, encouraging them to get involved hands-on through volunteer programmes, events, nature camps and internships.

Other publications

Aside from the magazines, the foundation publishes various other material, like coffee table books and guidebooks on wildlife sanctuaries and national parks across the country.

Contributors

Following is a list of some of Sanctuary Asia's key contributors (both photographers and writers).

Photography

Sanctuary Asia has been using photography as a conservation tool since the first issue, through the publication and the annual photography awards. [9] Editor Bittu Sahgal believes that "wildlife photography is a conservation tool. Images have the power to communicate across language barriers. Sanctuary regards photographers and photography as a critical foundation on which the world's conservation movement has been built." [10]

Awards

The Sanctuary Wildlife Awards are held annually at the end of each year to honour Indian conservationists and naturalists who do exceptional work. [11] The recipients of these ongoing awards later find their work bolstered by many quarters. [12]

As a natural corollary, the Sanctuary Nature Foundation's Mud on Boots programme has been providing small grants to grassroots conservationists in the most remote corners of the country since 2016. [13] The Foundation also holds the Wildlife Photography Awards to applaud deserving photographers, drawing thousands of entries from all over Asia. [14] This led to the recent institution of the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Festival.

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Bittu Sahgal

Bittu Sahgal is an environmental activist, writer, and the founder of Sanctuary Nature Foundation, an Indian nonprofit conservation organization that works on environmental policy, advocacy, science, on-ground support and habitat management. He is also the founding editor of Sanctuary Asia, a wildlife and ecology magazine.

Nirmal Ulhas Kulkarni is a herpetologist, field ecologist, conservationist, and wildlife photographer. Director (Ecology) of Wildernest Nature Resort, an eco-tel in the Chorla Ghats (Goa), Chairman of the Mhadei Research Centre, Team Lead of Hypnale Research Station and promoter of HERPACTIVE, a study initiative on Herpetofauna. As of December 2012, he lives in Goa.

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Kalyan Varma

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Nature inFocus is in the space of curation and dissemination of information about India's wild spaces. It aims to do this by using photography as a tool to make these conversations accessible to everyone. This portal carries articles about wildlife, conservation, eco-travel, communities, nature art, field notes, photography tips, research etc.

Sanctuary Nature Foundation is an Indian nonprofit foundation that was founded in 2015 building on the work of Sanctuary Asia, a wildlife magazine that was launched in 1981 by Bittu Sahgal. Its network of conservationists, naturalists, scientists, writers and photographers run various projects in environmental policy, advocacy, science, on-ground support, wildlife habitat management and more. The foundation also holds annual awards to honour grassroots conservationists and wildlife photographers.

Aishwarya Sridhar Indian wildlife photographer

Aishwarya Sridhar is an Indian wildlife photographer, wildlife presenter, and documentary filmmaker residing in Navi Mumbai. She is the youngest girl to have won the Sanctuary Asia- Young Naturalist Award and the International Camera Fair. Award. In 2020, Aishwarya became the first Indian woman to win Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. She is also a member of the State Wetland Identification Committee appointed by the Bombay High Court. Her works have been featured in BBC Wildlife, The Guardian, Sanctuary Asia, Saevus, Hindustan Times, Mumbai Mirror, Digital Camera, Mathrubhumi and Mongabay.

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Swati Thiyagarajan is an Indian conservationist, documentary filmmaker and environmental journalist, based in Cape Town, South Africa and New Delhi, India. She is a core team member of the Sea Change Project in South Africa and environmental editor at the Indian television news network of NDTV. Thiyagarajan is the recipient of the Carl Zeiss Award, Earth Heroes Award and two Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards. Her work as the environmental editor at NDTV has been acclaimed internationally and she has been described as the doyenne of environmental journalism in India.

Kallol Mukherjee Indian wildlife photographer

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References

  1. "Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia". Balipara Foundation. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  2. "Saving the tiger! 'Don't get angry, get involved,' says Sanctuary Asia founder Bittu Sahgal". Freepressjournal : Latest Indian news,Live updates. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  3. "About". Million Dollar Vegan. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  4. Soundarapandian, M. (2007). Green Productivity in Small And Medium Enterprises (in 2 Vols.). Concept Publishing Company. ISBN   9788180693700.
  5. Sanctuary Asia. S. Kumar. 1998.
  6. Thapar, Valmik (1 January 1997). Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent . University of California Press. p.  288. ISBN   9780520214705. sanctuary photo library.
  7. "Kids in India Come Together to Save Tigers". National Geographic Society Newsroom. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  8. "SANCTUARY NATURE FOUNDATION - Company, directors and contact details | Zauba Corp". zaubacorp.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  9. Scroll Staff. "Swooping eagles, duelling cobras and other winners at the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography awards". Scroll.in. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  10. "Wildlife photo contest highlights our shrinking urban wetlands". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  11. "These 5 Environmentalists Just Won Sanctuary Wildlife Awards & You Must Know Them". The Better India. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  12. "18th Sanctuary Wildlife Awards: From saving tigers to teaching wildlife conservation; know these green crusaders". Daily News and Analysis. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  13. "'Mud on Boots' project launched to support conservationists". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  14. "Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards: 9 Stunning Photos That Will Blow Your Mind". The Better India. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2019.