P V Jayakrishnan, Chairman, Central Empowered Committee on forestry matters, which is also investigating the mining issues in Karnataka, presented the award to Gubbi for his exemplary work to save tigers in the Western Ghats of Karnataka for over two decades.

Gubbi, who holds a Master’s degree in Wildlife Biology, has been instrumental in several of the important victories for wildlife, especially tigers in Karnataka. He played an active role in the campaign to close highways for night traffic in Nagarhole and Bandipur.

Sanjay, who works for the Wildlife Conservation Society-India Programme as the Assistant Director (Conservation Science and Policy), was also instrumental in halting unscientific harvesting of bamboo from Bhadra Tiger Reserve during the mid-90s.

He had a major contribution to ensure Kudremukh National Park got a breather from the mining activities that were stopped by a Supreme Court judgment. He also works towards improving benefits for lower level field staff of the Forest Department. The award was instituted by Carl Zeiss in 2001.