The Madhavan Pillai Foundation for Conservation has selected Vava Suresh for the Madhavan Pillai Foundation Conservation Award-2013. The award, which carries a prize money of Rs 1,00,000, will be presented by People For Animals chairperson Maneka Gandhi on November 10.
The award is usually given to field persons working on protection of our endangered flora and fauna. Mari, a protection watcher from Silent Valley National Park and the recipient of the Madhavan Pillai Foundation Conservation Award-2012, will also be honoured by Maneka Gandhi at the function to be held at Sri Mulam Club.
The previous winners of this prestigious award include Bal Pandi, bird-watcher of Koonthakulam Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu and G Kannan, anti-poaching watcher of Periyar Tiger Reserve.
Vava, a snake rescuer with decades of experience, has caught and released thousands of snakes, dozens of them being king cobras, which would otherwise have been brutally killed by people. He has also used his knowledge about the snakes to bridge the gap between society and the reptiles, which are generally feared.
As per his own assessment, he has caught more than 30,000 snakes so far in his career spanning more than two decades, got bitten more than 200 times and has caught and released 38 king cobras.
Vava Suresh will be introduced to the audience at Sri Mulam Club by K Muraleedharan MLA.
The Green Sign Campaign which was flagged off by Shashi Tharoor MP during the Hayfest 2012 will also conclude on the evening of November 10. At the function, P D Sarangadharan, Secretary, Kerala Legislature Assembly, will accept Green Canvases with prints of wildlife images on behalf of the Speaker of Kerala.
These images shall be displayed at prominent locations in the Kerala Legislature Complex to remind the policy makers about their responsibility to nature while taking decisions or forming laws. One canvas will be accepted by Sajeev Krishnan, Managing Director of SBT. Some of the signatories who endorsed this campaign are Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mammootty, Shashi Tharoor, Sugathakumari, Vikram Seth, Tarun Tejpal, P T Usha and M T Vasudevan Nair, among many others.