''Sanctuary Asia'' is an Indian nature and

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

magazine founded in 1981 by Bittu Sahgal, its current editor. The magazine expanded in 2015 to become established as a

non-profit foundation A foundation (also referred to as a charitable foundation) is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating d ...

(Sanctuary Nature Foundation). Sanctuary Nature Foundation also publishes other conservation-focused reading material, like coffee table books and

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

guides.

History

Editor Bittu Sahgal founded the magazine ''Sanctuary Asia'' in 1981 at the suggestion of Fateh Singh Rathore, the Field Director of

Ranthambore National Park Ranthambore National Park is a national park in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It covers a total area of . It is bounded to the north by the Banas River and to the south by the Chambal River. It is named after the historic Ranthambore Fort ...

, urging him to educate the Indian citizen on the importance of wildlife conservation. After receiving support nationwide, a second magazine was launched in 1984 for a younger audience, ''Sanctuary Cub''. In the 1980s, Sanctuary Films produced the television shows ''Project Tiger'' and ''Rakshak''. In the early 1990s, the magazine began to syndicate some of its articles to reach a wider audience. the Sanctuary Photo Library was founded in 1990. Since 2000, the organization has run several projects, including the Kids For Tigers programme, which has reached rural and urban children across 500 schools in 20 Indian cities through nature walks, fests and workshops. It was in 2015 that ''Sanctuary Asia'' established Sanctuary Nature Foundation, the nonprofit foundation that now publishes the magazines and several other publications and also leads conservation projects.

Publications

Both ''Cub'' and ''Asia'' publish six editions a year each.

''Sanctuary Asia''

Its first edition was published in October 1981. The bi-monthly publication prints stories and photographs by scientists, conservationists, naturalists, photographers, filmmakers and writers. The primary aim of the magazine is to communicate the urgent rationale for

environment protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...

Sanctuary Cub

First published in 1984 by its current editor Tara Sahgal, ''Sanctuary Cub'' was begun with the belief that a love for the environment and keen interest in conservation needs to be instilled in every child at a young age, encouraging them to get involved hands-on through volunteer programmes, events, nature camps and internships.

Other publications

Aside from the magazines, the foundation publishes various other material, like coffee table books and guidebooks on

wildlife sanctuaries A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologi ...

and

s across the country.

Contributors

Following is a list of some of ''Sanctuary Asias key contributors (both photographers and writers). *

Bikram Grewal Bikram Grewal is an ornithologist, author, birdwatcher and conservationist from Delhi, India who has written several guides to Indian birds. His father was a senior civil servant in the Indian government. He has been working with governments and p ...

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

* George Archibald * Dr AJT Johnsingh * Lavkumar Khachar *

Shekar Dattatri Shekar Dattatri is an Indian herpetologist and wildlife filmmaker from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Career Shekar Dattatri's lifelong fascination with wildlife began at the age of 14, when he joined the famous Madras Snake Park as a student-volunteer. Th ...

* Renee Borges * Fateh Singh Rathore *

Salim Ali Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrot ...

* Dhritiman Mukherjee * Prerna Singh Bindra * Valmik Thapar *

Romulus Whitaker Romulus Earl Whitaker (born 23 May 1943) is an American-born Indian herpetologist, wildlife conservationist, and founder of the Madras Snake Park, the Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust (ANET), and the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. In 2008 ...

* Billy Arjan Singh * HS Panwar *

Kailash Sankhala Kailash Sankhala (30 January 1925 –20 August 1997) was an Indian natural history, biologist and conservation movement, conservationist. He was the director of Delhi Zoological Park and chief wildlife warden of Rajasthan. He is best known for ...

* Ullas Karanth *

Sunderlal Bahuguna Sunderlal Bahuguna (9 January 1927 – 21 May 2021) was an Indian environmentalist and Chipko movement leader. The idea of the Chipko movement was suggested by his wife Vimla Bahuguna and him. He fought for the preservation of forests in the ...

* Isaac Kehimkar * Kalyan Varma *

Sandesh Kadur Sandesh Kadur is an Indian wildlife film producer and Conservation photography, conservation photographer known for contributing to Planet Earth II, BBC Planet Earth II. In 2024, he was appointed to the National Geographic Society board of truste ...

Madhaviah Krishnan Madhaviah Krishnan (30 June 1912 – 18 February 1996), better known as M. Krishnan, was a pioneering Indian wildlife photographer, writer and naturalist. Early life M. Krishnan was born in Tirunelveli on 30 June 1912 and was the youngest of e ...

* N A Naseer *

Ravi Sankaran Ravi Sankaran (4 October 1963 – 17 January 2009) was an Indian ornithologist whose work concerned the conservation of several threatened birds of India. He was the Director of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbat ...

Rishad Naoroji Rishad Naoroji (born 30 August 1951) is an Indian billionaire, environmentalist, businessperson, author, and one of the members of the Godrej family. Career Naoroji is the cousin of Indian billionaire Adi Godrej and gets his fortune from a on ...

* Valmik Thapar * Belinda Wright * Aishwarya Sridhar

Photography

''Sanctuary Asia'' has been using

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

as a conservation tool since the first issue, through the publication and the annual photography awards. Editor Bittu Sahgal believes that "wildlife photography is a conservation tool. Images have the power to communicate across language barriers. Sanctuary regards photographers and photography as a critical foundation on which the world's conservation movement has been built."

Awards

The Sanctuary Wildlife Awards are held annually at the end of each year to honour Indian conservationists and naturalists who do exceptional work. The recipients of these ongoing awards later find their work bolstered by many quarters. As a natural corollary, the Sanctuary Nature Foundation's Mud on Boots programme has been providing small grants to grassroots conservationists in the most remote corners of the country since 2016. The Foundation also holds the Wildlife Photography Awards to applaud deserving photographers, drawing thousands of entries from all over Asia. This led to the recent institution of the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Festival.

References

{{Reflist
1981 establishments in Maharashtra Bi-monthly magazines Environmental magazines Environment of India English-language magazines published in India News magazines published in India Magazines established in 1981 Mass media in Mumbai