Our Contribution:
An active participant in activities related to social welfare and preservation of species and the environment since its initial years, SHA supported local and international environmental groups successfully campaign for the preservation of the endangered Western Tragopan, a species of pheasant endemic to Himachal Pradesh, India and found in abundance within the periphery of the forest reserve.
Working hand in hand, the outfit was part of a large scale awareness drive instrumental in hemming poaching to a considerable extent and further bringing under control its decline with the implementation of a program that focused on transforming past poachers into birding guides by providing them with an alternate source of income.
As the borders of the Great Himalayan National Park, bestowed with the status of a UNESCO World Heritage site was restricted to the indigenous populace SHA begun work with the local non profit welfare group B.T.C.A to help the local populace dependent on the reserve since ancestral times for sustenance cope with their new settings.
In 2015, the outfit lent its support to the Nari Shakti initiative targeted at empowering such women with skill sets and avenues for income by teaming up with documentary filmmaker Good Karma Projects, B.T.C.A and other local groups. A series of films were produced to reveal the life of the rural dwellers and villages for educative purposes and better awareness. Brought to fruition by American filmmaker Ana Blue Grillo and created by students and volunteers of the Good Karma Projects Film making Boot camp, the film was shown to over 10,000 people including rural women as well as presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
Since then, SHA has further immersed itself in either supporting or developing other ecotourism-based initiatives for the benefit of the local citizens. In 2017, SHA was a special partner in the World Heritage Site celebrations and organized a birding walk for the village children.
The self-help group U.M.E.E.D that imparts training to local youths for better prospects, home stay projects that grooms local dwellers to provide hospitality services and handicraft projects that strives to promote local art and craft are some of the projects that have seen the involvement of the adventure service provider.
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