Pune: Wildlife conservationist Bhavna Menon to be awarded with first ‘Jungle Belles’ award

Pune: Wildlife conservationist Bhavna Menon to be awarded with first ‘Jungle Belles’ award

Pune: Wildlife conservationist Bhavna Menon to be awarded with first ‘Jungle Belles’ award

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Pune, February 05: Renowned wildlife conservationist Bhavna Menon will be the first recipient of the ‘Jungle Belles’ award for the outstanding contribution to wildlife conservation. Hemanagi Vartak and Sanjay Deshpande, city based wildlife enthusiasts and the contributors to the wildlife conservation have taken lead in instituting this award and it will be given every year by Jungle Belles to a woman having an active and noteworthy contribution to the field of wildlife conservation.

The award is in the form of a citation and Rs.50000/- cash. Jungle Belles is an organization working in the field of wildlife conservation awareness through various initiatives. This is the first of its kind cash award for women only who are making outstanding efforts for wildlife conservation. The award will be presented to Bhavna Menon at the hands of N. R. Praveen (IFS), Chief Conservator of Forests, Pune during a special function to be held on 17th February at Seva Bhavan located at Patwardhan Baug.

An award selection committee comprising of Sunil Limaye, Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (IFS), Naresh Zurmure (IFS), Additional Chief Conservator of Forests and Anuj Khare, Wildlife Warden and conservationist made the selection of Bhavana Menon for this award. Over 30 entries were received from all across the country for the award.

Bhavna Menon has worked in wildlife conservation for the last 15 years. Her work involved creating and executing outreach programs to mitigate Human-Wildlife conflict. Her work in Kanha Tiger Reserve  was about creating awareness among the children about the importance of conservation along with special camps for hearing-impaired and visually impaired students. Whereas, In Panna National Park it was about working with village elders to strengthen their involvement in forest protection.

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Apart from conservation outreach, she has also helped plan and execute alternate livelihood programs with tribes living around the tiger reserves like the Paradhis and the Baiga community. To reduce their dependency on the forests, they created eco-tourism models using traditional skill sets and sustainable products using the traditional jewelry of the Baigas to provide them with financial independence and long-term opportunities.

As an independent conservationist, she has helped enable/ revive eco – the club of a school at Bandhavgarh wherein they encouraged local children to adopt trees, and today the school compound boasts 300+ indigenous trees in their backyard. She has also helped the Forest Department in the summer season to create awareness in sensitive villages about forest fires in association with the Forest Department. Menon also helped set up a Crafts for Conservation outlet for an ethical souvenir brand called PashooPakshee to help create awareness and promote community engagement in conservation.

She is currently supporting Wild Pine, a local brand in Panna, which has initiated the first-of-its-kind block printing unit with the Pardhi community. This is the first of its kind in India and provides long-term support to concerned Pardhi youth. Apart from conservation, she also regularly contributes features to different publications, highlighting impactful work done by different people on the ground.

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