Everything done in business should be social, says Vivek Menon, Executive Director and Founder Trustee of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). WTI has been adjudged the businessline’s Changemaker award in Social Transformation Category.
“Nature has given wonderful treasure, we have to preserve that,”Menon said while receiving award from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a glittering ceremony organised here. “Everything in society has invested in the natural environment. Nature is absolutely important for human society and therefore all economic activities,” he said.
The Delhi-based NGO Wildlife Trust of India has rescued and rehabilitated rhinos, elephants, bears, whale sharks and more and cracked down on ivory and other wildlife trade. It has been a pioneer in conservation efforts in India with its novel approach. A combination of science, research and action has marked all of WTI’s impactful work in saving wildlife. Over the 26 years of its existence, WTI has rescued and rehabilitated bears, rhinos, elephants, vultures, whale sharks, and several more species with its conservation projects spanning across 23 States.
From the Pir Panjal mountains in Kashmir to the mangrove forests of Kannur in Kerala, from the black bear forests of Arunachal Pradesh to whale shark pupping areas off the Gujarat coast, its interventions have saved thousands of wildlife. It stopped illegal trade in several wildlife products ranging from shahtoosh to ivory.