Mr. Samik Gupta is the hon’ble President of Labannya, who is an Internationally known senior Wildlife Journalist, Editor and Consultant, worked on Indian forests and wildlife for the last 35 years. He is also a desperate stakeholder of biodiversity conservation and forest-side rural women empowerment in India. An outcome of his vast works, he was able to publish more than 600 Reports and Themes, coupled with 26 Documentaries on Forest, Wildlife, Livestock & Tribal issues respectively.
Mr. Gupta Has conducted several independent research and able to brought attention on applied ecology, such as (1) Fog Factor and Tiger Straying Problem in Indian Sundarban (2) Habitat Shifting of Frontline Mangrove around Sundarbans (3) Forced Habitation: change in prey-predator Relationship in Sundarban (4) Survival threats to the Fisherwomen of Indian Sundarban (5) Palatable Food and Elephant migration problem in southern West Bengal (6) Inbreeding problem, genetic saturation of Rhinos (7) In-situ and Ex-situ conservation of Clouded Leopard and Red Panda at High altitude etc.
Beside a number of animal farms and zoo of India, he extended his consultancy services to the concerned state and central government too. He also implemented several projects, i.e.; NASA (Notional Area of Scientific Afforestation), SPANE (Students Awareness Program on Nature and Environment), SEED (Support Enhancement for Eco-Development), SFWS (Social Support Scheme for the Fisherwomen of Sundarbans), SIFALI (Sundarban Inland Fisherwomen Alternative Livelihood Initiative), project BESTWAY (Business Entrepreneurship Support towards Women ability & Yield) and project LEAD (Livestock Entrepreneurship Acceleration & Development Program); are the prominent works by Mr. Gupta. He has been acclaimed by the honorable President of India in the year 2000 and 2015. He became the south Asia member of IUCN-CEC, since 2008.
Ms. Mithu Banerjee is the Founder Secretary of Labannya, who is a prominent name in Kolkata’s cultural as well as in corporate fields, since the late 1980s. She has started her career as an excellent performing artist and stage performer at Star Theatre, Kolkata. Later, her career graph turned as a successful corporate and business professional for a prolonged period. Finally, she resumed her professional career and dedicated herself as a selfless social worker, in mission to women empowerment in the state of West Bengal, since 2011. “Now the Labannya represents a concept, where the founder becomes irrelevant” she describes!
