Mumbai: Tata Chemicals has won the Green Governance Award 2005 for its project  – Conservation of the Whale Shark. The award will be given by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon. Prime Minister of India on November 10, 2005 at a ceremony in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

TheGreen Governance awards have been instituted by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in order to provide impetus to sustainable development and to encourage environmental protection initiatives. The purpose of the award is to recognize and appreciate an organisation’s efforts beyond meeting statutory compliance for protection and conservation of the environment. There were 28 participants in three categories: Conservation and restoration of habitat, conservation of flora and conservation of fauna.

Tata Chemicals won the award in the category – Conservation of Fauna. Tata Chemicals started work on this Whale Shark Conservation project in September 2003 through a unique partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). The campaign has used unique and innovative conservation intervention techniques that have brought about positive results in terms of popularizing and ensuring the long-term survival of the whale shark – the largest fish on this planet.

The main objective of this campaign was to bring about an attitudinal change of various stakeholders responsible for whale shark decline as well as threats of extinction, by educating them about the protected status of the species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. To make them aware of the legal implications of whale shark fishing in the aftermath of the ban in 2001 by the government of India and encouraging the public to participate in long-term conservation programmes of the whale shark.

The approach involved all stakeholders in the whale shark’s universe, including the whale shark hunters, boatmen, coastal communities, the forest department, the Coast Guard, school children and conservation NGOs. The project succeeded in creating an emotional bond between the coastal communities and the whale shark, through interpretation of Indian traditions. The project won international acclaim at the Whale Shark Conservation Conference at Perth, Australia in May 2005, where experts noted that the approach deployed by WTI and Tata Chemicals is a role model for other developing nations where traditional values are strong.

The pre-requisite for this award is for the organization to have robust environment management systems, that include recycle / reuse of effluents, environmental quality monitoring and management, use of clean technology, emergency preparedness, energy conservation techniques, and training of employees in environmental protection, and conservation of biodiversity. This partnership between a corporate giant and a conservation NGO holds promise for more corporate houses taking initiatives in utilising resources for the betterment of the environment and community.

Pix credit: top-Brad Norman / bottom-WTI