‘People can make a difference’; this was the message sent out by the Sixth Annual ABN AMRO Sanctuary Asia Wildlife Awards ceremony held on Friday to honour ‘‘Earth Heroes”-people who have done remarkable work to help conserve wildlife in their respective geographical and occupational areas.Awards were also given for best wildlife pictures out of 1,000 entries. ‘‘This is an occasion to defend defenders of our natural heritage and to honour them,” said Bittu Sahgal, Editor of Sanctuary magazine. The Indian Express was awarded the ‘Wind under the Wings” award, instituted this year for an organization encouraging professionals aiding conservation. The award, which carried a citation and a prize of Rs 25,000 was given in recognition to the ‘‘space and resources” provided by the newspaper to exposures done by Jay Mazoomdaar, Senior Assistant Editor, on dwindling tigers at Sariska, Ranthambhore and Panna among others. “The reports prominently and continually exposed gaping holes in the government’s conservation machinery,” says the citation.The winners were chosen by a panel comprising Valmik Thapar, Bikram Grewal, Bittu Sahgal and ABN AMRO’s Paul Abraham.
