New Delhi [India], March 28: After having won the north zone first, he was finally declared the national winner for this prestigious award by Forbes and Lions Clubs International in a glittering event at the ITC Grand Central, Mumbai, after a rigorous selection process conducted by Ernst and Young LLP.
Ray, a leading Bollywood composer, is known for investing all his life’s savings in converting a barren agricultural hill into a pristine forest. This unique ecosystem, adjacent to Corbett National Park, called Sitabani Wildlife Reserve, is India’s first rewilding project created by a solo individual with his private funds and relentless efforts.
Famed for the music for iconic films like Paan Singh Tomar, I am Kalam, Saheb Biwi aur Gangster, Welcome Back, Life is good, Shagird, Yeh Saali Zindagi etc., Abhishek Ray has earlier been awarded with Swabhiman Bharat & the prestigious Amazing Indian award by the Vice President of India along with a letter of appreciation by PM Modi for creating Sitabani Wildlife Reserve, the world’s first rewilded private sanctuary with wild tiger and leopard presence. His path breaking work in wildlife conservation is now being used as a precedent in many countries for rewinding degraded habitats.
Ray was recently approached by the United Nations and Government of India to create the branding anthem and film of the prestigious IBCA (International Big Cat Alliance), a dream project by PM Modi for bringing together 94 big cat holding countries of the world.
The IBCA anthem – ‘Guardians of the wild.’ which is conceived , composed, sung and filmed by Abhishek Ray ,depicts the glory & characteristics of the seven big cats as the apex predators of their natural habitats.
Bringing his music, filmmaking and conservation efforts together to save big cats, Abhishek Ray has recently filmed, sung and composed India’s National Cheetah Anthem for NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) and created India’s national Tiger anthem earlier.
Right from his early teens, Abhishek Ray has been a Government bonafide tiger & leopard tracker having received multiple certifications for taking part in tiger census in various tiger reserves of India.
‘A decade and a half back, I chanced upon this barren hill adjacent to Corbett Tiger Reserve which had been abused by years of slash and burn agriculture. The hill was surrounded by dense Sal forest. So in my eyes, this degraded land was screaming to be returned back to the wild. My childhood dream of creating a haven for wildlife saw manifestation in this and when human interference was removed, nature took over. ‘, says Abhishek.
He did rain water harvesting and made several fresh water bodies on the land. The grass, bamboo, fruiting trees planted by him and particularly the water bodies became a magnet for 350 species of rare birds and ungulates like Sambar, Ghoral , Chital and Barking deer. Once the prey settled in, they were soon followed by apex predators. Thereby the broken tiger-leopard corridor was re-established and then a miracle happened.
The universe conspired and a wild tigress gave birth to cubs in the area. The cubs found save haven with perennial water, prey, thick undergrowth and no human disturbance. The tigress made Sitabani wildlife reserve famous by reposing her trust in Abhishek and rearing her cubs around a habitat that he created from barren hill.
‘Inspite of being the most populous country, we are home to 5 of the 7 big cats of the world (tiger, lion, leopard, cheetah, snow leopard).
Therefore India is a natural capital for the IBCA (International Big Cat Alliance) with its impeccable credentials in tiger-leopard conservation. ‘‘maintains the composer- conservationist.
Abhishek strongly believes that big cat numbers are an accurate indicator of freshwater, rainfall, clean rivers and the overall environmental health of India.
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Divya Agarwal
