- Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust is community owned and managed venture on banks of Chilika Lake in Odisha.
- It has won prestigious United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Award for Innovation in Tourism Enterpris.
- The villagers of Mangalajodi were once associated with poaching of birds near Chilika Lake but now they stand as true defenders of wildlife in the region.
- The change was mainly due to a coordinated effort in implementing an awareness campaign on importance of preserving natural species and benefits associated with wildlife tourism.
- The change has soared numbers of birds from 2000 (during peak unsustainable hunting) to over three lakh in the region.
- Moreover other visible impacts this change has resulted in increasing revenue through ecotourism, sharp fall in poaching incidents and increasing support of villagers.
Note: This can be used as a case study for community based conservation efforts.