- Five-member independent Council plus an ex officio expert to oversee conservation, rescue, rehabilitation and compliance
- Former CITES Secretary-General John E. Scanlon AO to chair panel bringing together legal, wildlife, veterinary and conservation expertise
- Council to have final say on future applications to import wild animals after rigorous due-diligence process
- Governance reforms underline transparency, CITES compliance, range-state conservation and stronger focus on wildlife protection in India
NE WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT BUREAU
JAMNAGAR, SEPT 10
Wildlife conservation today demands more than compassion and rescue—it calls for science, specialised expertise, professional governance, independent scrutiny and sustained commitment. In a significant move towards that model, Vantara has announced the full membership of its newly established independent Governing Council, placing oversight and accountability at the heart of its conservation mission.
The Council, Vantara’s peak governing body, will oversee its conservation, rescue and rehabilitation work, compliance with Indian law, CITES and other international agreements, and help shape its vision for the next five years and beyond. Significantly, it will also have the final say on any future application to import wild animals, subject to a rigorous internal due-diligence process.
The five-member Council, supported by one ex officio, non-voting member, brings together expertise spanning wildlife policy, international and national law, institutional governance, wildlife crime, human-wildlife conflict, zoo and aquarium standards, veterinary science, stakeholder engagement and community-based conservation.
An independent team for a demanding conservation mission
John E. Scanlon AO, renowned environmentalist and former Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), will serve as the independent Chair. His appointment was announced in August 2026.
Joining him are:
Hon. Justice Krishna Murari, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India and former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, with extensive experience in law, governance and institutional oversight.
Craig Hoover, Executive Vice President of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), brings three decades of wildlife conservation experience, including senior roles with the US Fish and Wildlife Service overseeing international conservation and wildlife trade. He will commence his Council term in January 2027 after completing his tenure with AZA.
Subhash K. Malkhede, senior Indian Forest Service officer and former Chief Wildlife Warden of Karnataka, brings extensive experience in wildlife conservation, protected-area and endangered-species management, human-wildlife conflict, wildlife law enforcement and regulatory oversight.
Greta F. Iori, an Ethiopian-Italian conservation expert, brings significant experience in wildlife crime, human-wildlife coexistence, women’s leadership and community-based conservation across Africa.
Dr Kushal Konwar Sarma, Indian wildlife veterinarian and elephant specialist and formerly Professor and Head of the Department of Surgery and Radiology at the College of Veterinary Science, Guwahati, will serve as an ex officio, non-voting member.
All Council members will serve in an independent personal capacity, while Vantara employees cannot be voting members of the Council.
‘An exceptional team’ to shape Vantara’s future
John Scanlon, Chair of the Governing Council, said: “The Governing Council has a central role to play in setting the future vision for Vantara and in ensuring it embeds recently announced changes into its daily operations. With these appointments, we are bringing in people with outstanding professional credentials, extensive experience, and exemplary personal credibility. It’s an exceptional team that blends deep expertise from within India and globally. We will work diligently together to make a lasting, transformative positive impact for wildlife conservation, and look forward to engaging with Vantara staff and the conservation community in our work.”
Vivaan Karani, CEO of Vantara, said: “I welcome the members of the Governing Council, who will play an instrumental role in setting our future vision and in ensuring that Vantara is held to the highest standards as we advance science-led conservation. The independent authority of the Council is central to our efforts to fully implement the commitments made in our letter to the Indian CITES Management Authority last month, and to ensuring Vantara’s decisions are subject to rigorous and independent oversight.”
Import decisions to face independent scrutiny
The Governing Council will have overall responsibility for supervising Vantara’s conservation, rescue and rehabilitation work and monitoring compliance with Indian law, CITES and other international agreements.
Under Vantara’s recently announced governance reforms, no application to import an animal will be made before June 5, 2027.
Thereafter, commitments not to apply for imports in specified circumstances will apply. No application may be advanced without the Council’s prior written approval, following an internal due-diligence process.
The Council will continually review progress against Vantara’s letter to the Indian CITES Management Authority dated August 19, 2026, to ensure full implementation of the commitments contained in it.
A wider governance and conservation reset
The Governing Council is part of Vantara’s broader voluntary commitments to strengthen transparency, due diligence and operating practices, with a renewed emphasis on adherence to CITES.
The organisation has also committed to shifting greater focus towards supporting wildlife in their range states, while prioritising rescue, rehabilitation and conservation within India.
The Council will be supported by the new CITES Due Diligence Committee and Advisory Board, as well as the Special Director and Office of Compliance and Due Diligence, each of which is described in Vantara’s letter to the Indian CITES Management Authority.
Vantara has further committed to deeper engagement with the conservation community. The Council will consider a possible mechanism for continuing dialogue with conservation professionals working in the field, enabling the sharing of ideas, knowledge and perspectives.
It will also gather feedback from stakeholders on the best way forward.
When CSR becomes a conservation force
The significance of such an approach extends beyond any single institution. Reliance Foundation’s CSR-led wildlife initiatives demonstrate how corporate social responsibility can move beyond conventional philanthropy and become a professionally managed force for wildlife preservation.
When CSR is backed by conservation science, specialised veterinary expertise, professional management, strong governance and long-term commitment, its impact can reach far beyond individual rescue or rehabilitation efforts.
Vantara’s new governance architecture therefore offers another important dimension to this evolving conservation landscape: wildlife preservation needs institutions that combine resources with expertise, compassion with accountability and immediate rescue with long-term ecological thinking.
Reliance Foundation’s approach—and initiatives of this nature more broadly—offers a compelling model for how CSR can contribute meaningfully to wildlife conservation. Such professionally structured efforts deserve to be studied, emulated and, wherever possible, scaled up by other institutions.
Ultimately, the measure of any wildlife initiative should not be the number of animals rescued alone, but whether it creates a lasting, scientifically credible and accountable pathway for animals, ecosystems and communities to thrive.
“For Mother Earth, all living beings are Her children. The true measure of conservation, therefore, is not how much humanity takes from nature, but how faithfully it protects every member of the family of life.”
