Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, May 22, 2014: On the International Day for Biological Diversity, the Junagadh Forest Division stood second in the Indian Bio – Diversity Award under co-management category for the involvement of community and government, in saving the natural heritage- the whale shark.

The awards are hosted by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), India.

This joint venture between Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL), Gujarat Forest Department and local communities for releasing whale sharks accidentally caught in fishermen’s net. While earlier the rescue team, which included officials from the Forest Department, would rush to the site themselves, which would vary in every situation, the rescue time for a whale shark was considerably brought down after a self-documentation scheme was introuced by WTI, with the Forest Department. This essentially entailed giving the fishermen water-proof cameras to document cutting the net themselves.

By allowing them to self-document the release, the amount of the time the whale shark spent in the net came down thus greatly reducing the stress on the fish and increasing chances of survival. The fishermen were also able to claim speedy compensation since they could now hand over quick and handy proof of having cut their nets to aid a whale shark in distress.

Photo courtesy Simon Pierce / Megafauna Foundation