Preserving India’s Natural Heritage

Photos & videos by Rudraksha Rishi Mitra


Rudraksha Rishi Mitra

Conservation | Innovation | Policy | Storytelling

I am a public policy professional and social innovator with a diverse range of experiences at the intersection of sustainable development, social entrepreneurship and communications in organisations such as KPMG and the National Institute of Urban Affairs. An MSc International Social and Public Policy candidate from the London School of Economics, I authored my thesis on how environmental policy affects forest-dwelling communities amid the backdrop of human-tiger conflict in the Terai Arc Landscape. I have also been a part of prestigious global initiatives such as the Unleash Innovation Lab.

Now, I am driving innovations and leading discourse around biodiversity preservation, community engagement and wildlife conservation in India.

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Rudraksha Mitra stands in the Appalachian mountains with trees and a setting sun in the background.
Rudraksha Mitra tracking tigers in the dense forest trails of Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, India.
Leopard tracks on a damp forest trail in a South Indian tiger reserve.

Snippets from the Field: Tracking Big Cats in Annamalai and Parambikulam

Top Right: Leopard tracks near Peruvari dam, Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, September 2025

Bottom Left: Navigating thickly forested woodlands in the Annamalai Hills, September 2025

A cage for trapping man-eating tigers in a forest camp at Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, India.
A partially harvested wheat field in Pilibhit, India, abandoned due to the presence of a tiger.

Snippets from the Field: Human-Tiger Conflict in the Terai Arc Landscape

Left: Tiger trapping cage in Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, April 2025

Right: Wheat crop abandoned after the emergence of a man-eating tigress in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, April 2025