Bittu Sahgal [b. 1947, in Shimla, India] is the Founder of the Sanctuary Nature Foundation, Editor of Sanctuary Asia, India’s first and largest circulating wildlife and ecology magazine [1981], and Founder-Editor of Sanctuary Cub [1984], India’s oldest and only wildlife magazine for children. He was closely involved with Project Tiger since its inception in the 1970s and has spent over four decades writing about and calling attention to conservation issues in books, magazines, and newspapers in both English and regional languages. He has also produced 30 wildlife documentaries, led national and international environmental campaigns across media platforms, including social media. He created ‘Kids for Tigers’, a conservation programme for school children that has reached over a million children and has been run successfully for almost two decades. Bittu has served on a range of government and non-government organization boards and committees over the last 30 years, including the National Board for Wildlife [Government of India], the IUCN [World Conservation Union], The Wild Foundation [U.S.A], and the Expert Appraisal Committee for Infrastructure, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. He works with policymakers, social workers, economists, and scientists at the tri-junction of biodiversity, climate change, and economics, speaking at national and international platforms in support of wilderness conservation while continuing to spearhead the work of the Sanctuary Nature Foundation. Bittu Sahgal lives and works in Mumbai, India.
This story is from the Vol. 24, No. 1, 2021, 'TIME TO WAKE UP! Save Our Environment Now.' edition of International Gallerie.
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This story is from the Vol. 24, No. 1, 2021, 'TIME TO WAKE UP! Save Our Environment Now.' edition of International Gallerie.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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WHERE TIGERS ARE HAPPY!
Initiated by the Sanctuary Nature Foundation, ‘Kids for Tigers’ is an inspiring project that educates schoolchildren about the welfare of wild animals. Spearheading this program, is Govardhan Meena, a sensitive village boy who grew up to be a saviour of tigers, of forest land and their inhabitants. Born in 1980 to a Meena tribal family living on the outskirts of Ranthambhore, Rajasthan, the unassuming young man is a virtual Pied Piper for children learning about the environment. He works 24x7 with a single-mindedness, building bridges between people and parks. No wonder, the awards and certificates in his prized possession, are more than deserving for a man whose life is dedicated to helping village children seed bonds with nature’s wilderness.
DANCE LIKE A MAN!
Dancer, choreographer and actor, Revanta Sarabhai, the third generation of a famed family of classical Indian dance, believes the arts have a way of reaching out to people in an entirely different way than scientific data or information does; that performance tends to have a greater emotional and empathetic impact on people’s senses rather than only their rational brain. Believing that the arts have a tremendous role to play in championing the cause of climate change [or any major challenge human beings face globally], he urges artists to harness the power of the arts to create change. With this conviction, Sarabhai shares with us his conceptual performance questioning climate change.
DANCE OF THE ACTION BRIGADE
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CELEBRATING THE WILDERNESS
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THEATRE SALUTES THE ENVIRONMENT
Theatres evolve to reconnect us to each other and the environment
FROM TRASH TO TREASURE
Veena Sahajwalla is a whirlwind of ideas and energy, determined to tackle the mountain of waste, especially -waste generated by Australians every year. Recycling waste into ‘green steel’ and ‘green ceramics’ is the result of years of experimentation at UNSW [University Of New South Wales, Sydney]. Director of the UNSW Sydney SMaRT Centre and a Eureka Prize winner [considered the pinnacle of scientific achievement in ustralia], Professor Sahajwalla was also awarded the PLuS Alliance prize for innovation in 2017.
BITTU SAHGALSEEKING SANCTUARY
In kinship with wildlife, with nature, with the air we breathe Bittu Sahgal shares his lifetime’s camaraderie with the environment
