The Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust, promoted by the Indian Grameen Services (IGS), was awarded the India Biodiversity Award-2014 under the category of Community Stewardship at Portblair in Andaman,recently.
Niranjan Prasad Behera and Purna Chandra Behera received the award on behalf of the Trust from Andaman and Nicobar Islands lt Governor AK Singh in the presence of Environment and Forests Ministry Additional Secretary Hem Pande and National Biodiversity Authority Chairman and UNDP Country Director Jorn Sorensen.
The award, which includes a cash prize of Rs50,000, a citation and a trophy, was given on the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22 , said IGS State head Sanjib Sarangi at a Press meet here on Monday.Acting as a liaison between local communities and tourism industry, the ecotourism at Mangalajodi emphasises on ecological fragility, carrying capacity and biodiversity conservation of the region.
The conservation works would be strengthened in coming days with low impact tourism practices and the ecotourism enterprise would take it to the next level of institutional collaborations with Government and private agencies, added Sarangi.