Competition was fierce and we would like to congratulate all who were nominated for their dedication to eco tourism and conservation. The winners and runners up are truly outstanding in their fields and fully deserve this recognition for their work, when the very best in India and Nepal needs highlighting to all.

Over a decade long commitment to tiger conservation has ensured Wildlife Trails leads by example in specialist nature tourism today in India. With its own NGO, The Tiger Trails Foundation, it provides direct support to communities around Ranthambhore, works with expert local guides and is applauded for its attention to detail and local knowledge in

Contact: wildlifetrails@gmail.com

Natural World Safaris are wildlife specialists with the conservation of species and habitats a cornerstone of their responsible travel policy. Their dedicated support of TOFTigers and carefully crafted itineraries that go beyond the run of the mill ensure that their actions match their words as a tour operator.

Contact: kate@naturalworldsafaris.com

An abiding passion for the small things, from frogs to butterflies, and his beloved dragonflies, ensures that he is called upon by forest staff to help ID numerous species and work alongside the Satpura park’s Field Director. David is a researcher and well published naturalist in his specialist fields.

Contact: davidraju2007@gmail.com

One of Nepal’s finest, in a long list of exceptional naturalists over the last few decades, from the terai belt of this country, Ram Din maintains the Nepalese traditions of service and offers nature education to guests and locals alike. A naturalist for 35 years with Tiger Tops following in his father’s footsteps, this veteran tracker reads the forest like most of us peruse a newspaper.

Contact: jack.baucher@tigertops.com

An outstanding local guide who has gone the extra mile to use his passion to enthuse others – visitors and community alike – about wildlife and conservation. Harbouring the basis of responsible tourism, putting more back than he takes out – he has helped to bring employment to other local drivers, guides and businesses.

Contact: ramesh_naturalist@live.com

A local resident of Bhuri-Pahari village whose love of wildlife is reflected in the way he communicates to guests and supports the work of the park, especially his own village community where his professional example and success has paved the way for others to follow.

Contact: hemraj2000@yahoo.com

Orange County in Kabini is an excellent lodge, with an Outstanding PUG eco rating. Inspired by local architecture, its management have set about ensuring that everything it does ensures harmony for its many visitors and yet respect for its environment, situated as it is on the shores of the Kabini river beside Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.

Contact: info@orangecounty.in

Kipling, one of the oldest wildlife lodges in India set up by some of the pioneers in India conservation world, is unusually a charity. Once a bare patch of land on the borders of Kisli in Kanha in the 1980’s, it is now a forest of trees and yet a haven of old world hospitality, in which wildlife and birdlife once again flourishes.

Contact: info@kiplingcamp.com

Set upon 44 acres of once denuded and overgrazed farmland near the reservoir bordering the hills of Satpura Tiger reserve, the lodge owners sought early on to ensure the sustainable development of tourism pursuing a pioneering partnership approach with park management from the outset of their operations.

Contact: info@forsythlodge.com

Built using the local architectural materials on over 30 acres of land, it’s a superb example of clever construction, that combines comfort with environmental harmony, incorporating its accommodation units amongst the teak forest, and ensuring space for wildlife with its seasonal river and a waterhole.

Contact: info@renipanijunglelodge.com

Satpura has set an extraordinary example in its approach, planning for tourism early in its opening to visitors, working in partnership with tourism owners, seeking alternative activities to the usual game drives, and enabling canoeing, camping safaris and guided walks in some of Central India’s most fabulous landscape.

Contact: dirsatpuranp@moforest.org

With management committed to better visitor experiences, spreading tourism further and thinner across Kanha’s landscape has ensured much better wildlife experiences, alongside guiding that has improved and become more knowledgeable over the years.

Contact: dirkanhanp@mpforest.org

Apart from the enormous strides in its conservation and village relocation efforts, Tadoba should be applauded for its focus on its buffer zones where it is committed to offering a range of nature based activities giving local communities new employment opportunities.

Contact: garad5@yahoo.com

Working against conflicting forces, SAI is an example of where passion, hard work and the dedication of two people, Dr and Mrs Malhotra, in restoration and conservation have ensured nature has survived over the desire to extract and exploit. Dubbed Noah’s Ark due to its rich biodiversity, and growing from 55 acres of land purchased in 1991 to over 300 acres today, this not for profit sanctuary serves the dual purpose of protecting the rapidly vanishing biodiversity of the Western Ghats and encouraging its visitors to value nature.

Contact: saisanctuary@gmail.com

Supported by exceptional forest leaders, the Field Director and his team have set about restoring an unloved and forgotten sanctuary that will one day be the pride of India. Clever conservation efforts, common sense and cross border support from its neighbouring Pench park in Madhya Pradesh, will ensure Pench Maharashtra and its new protected landscapes is becoming a key source destination for a large population of tigers in the future and a prime visitor attraction.

Contact: fdpenchnagpur@hotmail.com

Since 2009, this wildlife safari operator, together with its five wilderness lodges – which started as far back as 1986 – has helped put India firmly on the world map as an unparalleled nature tourism destination. Since its foundation, it has based its ethos on a strong sustainable tourism foundation.

Contact: manav@pugdundeesafaris.com

With a strong commitment to running ecologically sensitive and culturally responsible tours in North East India and further afield, Jungle Travels India is also renowned for its award winning Diphlu River Lodge, a superb eco-rated lodge in Kaziranga, and pioneering, award winning long-distance wilderness cruises along the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Hugli Rivers run by its sister company.

Contact: jti_tours@rediffmail.com

An outstanding NGO dedicated to wildlife conservation, forest dependent communities and environmental sustainability founded by the owner of Infinity Resorts. Operating out of Infinity’s premises in Corbett, Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Kaziranga, The Corbett Foundation has engaged more than 350 villages in initiatives bringing new ecotourism related business and employment opportunities, celebrating local culture, giving support to local communities and raising awareness of a myriad of issues from wildlife conservation and renewable energy to cattle vaccination and health and hygiene.

Contact: kgore@corbettfoundation.org

Take a state with an ancient tradition of working with elephants, India’s second largest population of captive elephants and a now vastly depleted working demand for these gentle giants and you have the roots of this initiative. Small and aspirational in its vision to act as an old people’s home for working elephants, Smiling Tusker Elephant Camp is an ecotourism venture managed by local youth.

Contact: nayan_162003@yahoo.co.in