Conservation scientist Krithi Karanth to receive Rolex award

Since its beginnings in 1976, Rolex has honoured over 140 people including 10 Indians, of which only two were women

Rolex today named the five 2019 Rolex awards laureates, who will receive funding and other benefits for their inspiring projects that will improve life on the planet.

The 2019 Rolex Laureates areKrithiKaranth, 40, India,João Campos-Silva, 36, Brazil, Grégoire Courtine, 44, France, Brian Gitta, 26, Ugandaand Miranda Wang, 25, Canada.

One of the selected laureates for this year's awards is Krithi Karanth, a conservation scientist from India. Krithi(40) plans to reduce the friction between wildlife and people living near Indian national parks by reducing threats to people, property, and livestock, raising conservation awareness in communities and schools and also assisting with compensation claims through a toll-free helpline service.

Krithi Karanth presented her two unique programs, 'Wild Seve' and 'Wild Shaale', at the National Geographic Society recently.

'Wild Seve' has assisted families—experiencing losses from wildlife—filed 14,000 claims and received compensation from the government.

'Wild Shaale' is working with 20,000 children living in high conflict villages to build empathy and interest in Indian wildlife and wild places.

Together, these projects aim to empower rural communities and enable us to rewild India. The funding will be used by Krithi to scale-up her community-based programs to reach millions of more farmers, children and families across rural India.

Rolex Awards are given for projects focusing on the environment, science and health, applied technology, cultural heritage, and exploration. However, awards have been presented to individuals outside of the aforementioned categories as well.

The award provides an opportunity for the laureates to receive funding and other benefits for their projects which are based around improving life on planet earth.

These awards were set up way back in 1975 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster, the world's first waterproof wristwatch.

Based on votes of the public and that of the Rolex Jury, each of the five finalists will receive grants worth 200,000 Swiss francs (equivalent to 1.5 crore in Indian rupees).