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| Formation | 1996 |
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| Headquarters | Mysore, India |
Executive Board | Suhel Quader, Vena Kapoor, M Ananda Kumar, Smita Prabhakar, Ajay Bijoor, Janhavi Rajan, Rucha Karkarey, Rohit Naniwadekar |
| Website | http://www.ncf-india.org/ |
The Nature Conservation Foundation is a non-governmental wildlife conservation and research organisation based in Mysore, India. They promote the use of science for wildlife conservation in India. [1] [2]
The Nature Conservation Foundation was founded in 1996. Their mission is to carry out "science-based and socially responsible conservation".
The organisation works in a variety of habitats. The high altitude program focuses on human wildlife conflicts and conservation of endangered species such as the snow leopard and the Tibetan gazelle. A livestock insurance program has been launched to prevent retaliatory killings of snow leopards by communities whose livestock were being preyed on. [3] [2] [4] The organisation has partnered with the International Snow Leopard Trust and the Government of India to launch a Project Snow Leopard, similar to Project Tiger for the protection of the wildlife in the Himalayan landscapes. [5] [6] The Project Snow Leopard seeks to address the problem of species declines in the high-altitude Himalayan landscape through evidence-based conservation plans as well as local support. Species such as snow leopard, Asiatic ibex, argali, urial, chiru, takin, serow and musk deer will particularly benefit from this project. [6] In 2003, three wildlife biologists from the foundation reported the Chinese goral (Nemorhaedus caudatus) from Arunachal Pradesh, the first record for India [7] In 2005, scientists from the foundation described the Arunachal macaque from western Arunachal Pradesh, India, a species new to science. [8] The organisation runs a rainforest restoration program in the Anamalai hills in the Western Ghats where fragments of degraded patches of rainforests outside national parks or wildlife sanctuaries are restored in partnership with the private tea and coffee plantations. [9]
Charudutt Mishra and M. D. Madhusudhan, two of the founders received the Whitley award, also called "Green Oscar" [10] for 2005 and 2009 respectively. Charudutt Mishra was awarded for the conservation efforts in the high altitude landscapes, while Madhusudan was conferred the honor in recognition of his work to reduce human-wildlife conflict in the Western Ghats. [11] [12]
In 2006, the organisation won the Distinguished service award from the Society for Conservation Biology. [13] for outstanding contributions to nature conservation. Sushil Dorje, a field coordinator with the organisation was awarded the Van Tienhoven Foundation award for his work on human-wildlife conflict in Spiti and Ladakh. [14]
In 2013, Aparajita Datta was awarded the Whitley award to continue her decade long work on conservation of hornbills. [15] Aparajita Dutta, a Senior Scientist at NCF was announced as the recipient of 2009 Woman of Discovery Humanity Award by the New York-based Wings World Quest for a lifetime dedicated to wildlife biology and her work in Namdapha Tiger Reserve. [16] [17] She was also awarded by the National Geographic Society as an Emerging explorer for 2010, which recognized "..14 trailblazers from around the world". [18]
In 2015, Dr. Ananda Kumar was awarded the Whitley award for his work on elephant-human conflict management on the Valparai plateau. In 2017, he was awarded a continuation of funding. [19] [20] [2]
The Arunachal macaque is a macaque native to Eastern Himalayas of Bhutan, China and India. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
The leaf muntjac, leaf deer or Putao muntjac is a small species of muntjac. It was documented in 1997 by biologist Alan Rabinowitz during his field study in the isolated Nogmung Township in Myanmar. Rabinowitz discovered the species by examining the small carcass of a deer that he initially believed was the juvenile of another species; however, it proved to be the carcass of an adult female. He managed to obtain specimens, from which DNA analysis revealed a new cervid species. Local hunters knew of the species and called it the leaf deer because its body could be completely wrapped by a single large leaf. It is found in Myanmar and India.
The Whitley Awards are held annually by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) to recognise and celebrate effective grassroots conservation leaders across the Global South. The charity's flagship conservation prizes, worth £40,000 in project funding over one year, are won competitively following assessment by an expert academic panel and are now amongst the most high profile of conservation prizes. Often referred to by others as "Green Oscars", the Awards seek to recognise outstanding contributions to wildlife conservation with a focus on Asia, Africa and Latin America, bringing international attention to the work of deserving individuals committed to precipitating long-lasting conservation benefits on the ground, with the support of local communities. In addition to the funding aspect of the Whitley Awards, WFN also provides media and speech training to enable winners to effectively communicate their work and inspire further philanthropic support.
Namdapha National Park is a 1,985 km2 (766 sq mi) large protected area in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India. The park was established in 1983. With more than 1,000 floral and about 1,400 faunal species, it is a biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas. The national park harbours the northernmost lowland evergreen rainforests in the world at 27°N latitude. It also harbours extensive dipterocarp forests, comprising the northwestern parts of the Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests ecoregion.
The long-tailed goral or Amur goral is a species of ungulate of the family Bovidae found in the mountains of eastern and northern Asia, including Russia, China, and Korea. A population of this species exists in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, near the tracks of the Donghae Bukbu Line. The species is classified as endangered in South Korea, with an estimated population less than 250. It has been designated South Korean natural monument 217. In 2003, the species was reported as being present in Arunachal Pradesh, in northeast India.
India is home to a large variety of wildlife. It is a biodiversity hotspot with various ecosystems ranging from the Himalayas in the north to the evergreen rain forests in the south, the sands of the west to the marshy mangroves of the east. India lies within the Indomalayan realm and is the home to about 7.6% of mammal, 14.7% of amphibian, 6% of bird, 6.2% of reptilian, and 6.2% of flowering plant species. India's forests contain about 500 species of mammals and more than 1300 bird species.
Eaglenest or Eagle's Nest Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area of India in the Himalayan foothills of West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh. It conjoins Sessa Orchid Sanctuary to the northeast and Pakhui Tiger Reserve across the Kameng river to the east. Altitude ranges are extreme: from 500 metres (1,640 ft) to 3,250 metres (10,663 ft). It is a part of the Kameng Elephant Reserve.
Mysore Doreswamy Madhusudan is an Indian wildlife biologist and ecologist. He is the Co-founder and Director of Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. He has worked on understanding and mitigating the effects of human-wildlife conflict in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in South India. He has also worked in several other forests in the Himalayas and North-east India. In 2004, he was one among the team of wildlife biologists who described Arunachal macaque, a new species of macaque from Arunachal Pradesh, India.
The Eastern Himalayas extend from eastern Nepal across Northeast India, Bhutan, the Tibet Autonomous Region to Yunnan in China and northern Myanmar. The climate of this region is influenced by the monsoon of South Asia from June to September. It is a biodiversity hotspot, with notable biocultural diversity.
The Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion of Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal, which lies between the tree line and snow line in the eastern portion of the Himalaya Range.
The Snow Leopard Trust is the largest and oldest organization working solely to protect the endangered snow leopard and its habitat in 12 countries of Central Asia. The trust is a non-profit organization with its headquarters in Seattle, Washington. The present total population of snow leopards in the wild is estimated at between 3,920 and 6,390.
The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small, landlocked nation nestled in the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalaya. To its north lies the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and to the west, south and east lies the Indian states of Sikkim, Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Pakke Tiger Reserve, is a Project Tiger reserve in the East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. The 862 km2 (333 sq mi) reserve is protected by the Department of Environment and Forest of Arunachal Pradesh. It was known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve, but renamed in April 2001 by the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. It has won India Biodiversity Award 2016 in the category of 'Conservation of threatened species' for its Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme.
Kibber, also Kibber Khas and Khyipur, is a village high in the Spiti Valley in the Himalayas at 4,270 m (14,010 ft) in Himachal Pradesh in northern India. It contains a monastery and is a base for visiting the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary. It is located 19 km (12 mi) from Kaza and a bus service connects them in the summer months. Agriculture forms the backbone of the local economy and lush green fields are abundant. It is the base for visitors to the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, home to about 30 snow leopards. Treks to nearby peaks and to a high pass in the Zanskar range between Spiti and Ladakh start from Kibber.
Anwaruddin Choudhury, M.A., Ph.D., D.Sc., is an Indian naturalist, noted for his expertise on the fauna of North-East India.
George Beals Schaller is an American mammalogist, biologist, conservationist and author. Schaller is recognized by many as the world's preeminent field biologist, studying wildlife throughout Africa, Asia and South America. Born in Berlin, Schaller grew up in Germany, but moved to Missouri as a teen. He is vice president of Panthera Corporation and serves as chairman of their Cat Advisory Council. Schaller is also a senior conservationist at the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
Dehing Patkai National Park is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam and covers an area of 231.65 km2 (89.44 sq mi) rainforest. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary on 13 June 2004. On 13 December 2020 Government of Assam upgraded it into a national park. On 9 June 2021 Forest Department of Assam officially notified it as a national park. It is located in the Dehing Patkai Landscape which is a dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforest. The rainforest stretches for more than 575 km2 (222 sq mi) in the districts of Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Charaideo. The forest further spreads over in the Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Dehing Patkai National Park harbours the largest stretch of lowland rainforests in India. Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant. Dehing-Patkai as a potential wildlife sanctuary was identified in late 1980s during a primate survey as "Upper Dehing Wildlife Sanctuary". Subsequently during a study on white-winged wood duck in early 1990s, it was discovered as a globally important site for this duck and recommended to be upgraded to "Upper Dehing National Park".
Bayarjargal (Bayara) Agvaantseren is a Mongolian conservationist who has campaigned to save the habitat of the snow leopard in an area of the South Gobi Desert which has become a major mining hub. Thanks to her successful efforts to create the 8163-sq-km Tost Tosonbumba Nature Reserve and to have the authorities cancel 37 mining licences, in 2019 she was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize.
Aparajita Datta is an Indian wildlife ecologist who works for the Nature Conservation Foundation. Her research in the dense tropical forests of Arunachal Pradesh has successfully focused on hornbills, saving them from poachers. In 2013, she was one of eight conservationists to receive the Whitley Award.
Sanjay Gubbi is a conservation biologist based in Karnataka, India. His work focuses on the conservation of large carnivores like tigers and leopards, working on applied aspects and understanding their population biology, proposing conservation policies for their protection, and working to minimize human-wildlife conflict. He currently works as a scientist with Nature Conservation Foundation, a Mysore based NGO.
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