Kaziranga National Park director first Indian to win global innovation award

Sonali Ghosh, director of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, has become the first Indian to receive an international award that recognises innovation in ecologically protected areas such as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

She was presented with the Kenton R. Miller Award, established by the WCPA (World Commission on Protected Areas), alongside Ecuador’s Roque Simón Sevilla Larrea at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi on 10 October.

The WCPA is one of six technical commissions of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), a global network founded in 1948, dedicated to nature conservation and sustainable resource use.

The WCPA focuses on governance, management, and policy of protected areas, supporting effective creation and stewardship of national parks, reserves, and marine protected areas worldwide.

Established in 2006, the Kenton R. Miller Award for Innovation in National Parks and Protected Area Sustainability is presented biennially by the IUCN-WCPA.

Named in honour of a former IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) director-general, the award recognises individuals or teams whose innovations across planning, management, finance, governance, monitoring, capacity building, and communication have earned significant impact and peer acclaim without previous international awards.

Challenges tackled by laureates include threats from poaching, climate change, invasive species, and budget constraints.

An IUCN statement acknowledged Dr Ghosh for advocating a “model of conservation rooted in community engagement, awareness-building, and the seamless integration of traditional ecological knowledge with modern scientific expertise.” This approach has been notably influential in the highly biodiverse regions of Manas and Kaziranga in Assam.

Larrea, an economist, entrepreneur, environmentalist, and politician, received his award for promoting “sustainability through various companies, including tourism, insurance, and the environment.” He is founder and president of Grupo Futuro, which oversees 19 businesses spanning insurance, healthcare, tourism, agriculture, and clean energy.

Previous winners of the Kenton R. Miller Award include Burung Indonesia, praised for community-based bird conservation combining local knowledge and scientific research; Nizar Youssef Hani of Lebanon’s Shouf Biosphere Reserve, recognised for ecosystem restoration and community empowerment following conflict; and Mexico’s Maria Del Carmen Garcia Rivas, honoured for advancing marine protected areas via collaborative governance and scientific monitoring.

With PTI inputs