Global Wildlife Fair Program

Global Wildlife Fair 2025 Highlights 
Oct 10-12, 2025
New Delhi, India

Main Hall

Day 1 – Nature, Human, Wildlife Harmony:
Proceedings opened with welcome notes by Masaru Takayama (AEN Founder & Chair) and Jose Louies (CEO, WTI). Dignitaries addressed the gathering, including Sh. Kapil Mishra (Hon. Minister of Delhi Tourism), Sh. Ravi Singh (WWF-India), Sh. Ajeet Bajaj (ATOAI), and Sh. Dr. D. K. Sasikumar, IFS (Gujarat Forest Dept). WTI’s 25 Years was presented by Jose Louies and Dr. Sandeep Kumar Tiwari. Expert talks featured Sh. Dr. D. K. Sasikumar and Ary Suhandi (INDECON; Vice Chair-AEN). Afternoon keynotes and panels included H.E. Ganbold Dambajav (Ambassador of Mongolia), Dr David Fennell (Brock University; Founder, GEN) launching the Centre for Animal-based Tourism, and Masaru Takayama on the past, present, and future of wildlife tourism. The Astral Foundation segment featured Dr. Rohit Choudhary, Mr. Gaurav Shirodkar, and Mr. Vipul Gupta. The finale brought a keynote by Sriharsha H.K. & Adarsh N.C. (Felis Creations) and expert lectures by Ritu Makhija (ToFT), Bhavna Menon, and Kalponika.

Day 2 – Wildlife Conservation through Ecotourism:
Keynotes came from Dr. Dipankar Ghose (WWF-India) and Sh. Dr. D. K. Sasikumar; the morning panel led by Dr. Ghose featured Sh. Dharminder Sharma (PCCF/HoFF, Punjab), Dr. Dhananjay Mohan (PCCF/HoFF, Uttarakhand), and Prof. Prodyut Bhattacharya (GGSIPU). A second keynote was delivered by Sh. Dharminder Sharma; a panel led by Dr. Supreet Kaur (EcoSikh India) included Dr. Kishore Rithe (BNHS), Dr. Rajwant Singh (EcoSikhh), Dr Rajiv Bhartari (Fellow, NITI Aayog), and Mr Noam Weiss, followed by Mr Weiss’s seminar on Eilat Bird Sanctuary. The afternoon featured AEN keynotes by Dr Gantemur Damba (Mongolia), Dr. Pham Hong Long (Vietnam), and Nipatpong Chuan Chuen (Thailand), and a panel with Mrs. Preeti Srivastava (Uttar Pradesh Tourism), Egor Sánchez (Colombia), Mr Tashi Tenzin (Bhutan), Delhi Tourism (MD), and Prabha Gautam (Burhan Wilderness Camps).

Day 3 – Envisioning Ecotourism Responsibly:
Keynotes were delivered by Prof. Jennifer Chan Kim Lian (AEN, Malaysia) and Seema Bhatt; the panel she led included Jari Peltomäki (Finnature), a RARE representative, Rafael Armada, Marc Guyt (Nature conservation & photo tourism), Ramesh Sapkota (Jane Goodall Institute Nepal), and Ramcharan Vijayaraghavan (Polar Educators International). A Roundglass Sustain screening, moderated by Megha Moorthy, brought a tentative panel of Neha Dara, Dhritiman Mukherjee, and Soity Banerjee. Afternoon keynotes featured Mr Raj Basu (Help Tourism; ACT) and Luis Segura (Trogon Tours), followed by the Signing of LOI (AEN-facilitated) and expert lectures by Mr Vinay Jindal, IAS, Jai Sharma (Muddy Lessons LLP), and Dr Priya Bhalla (SCS Global Services). The Photo Awards & Closing Ceremony carried valedictory notes by Masaru Takayama and Mohit Aggarwal.

Exhibition Hall
The Global Wildlife Fair 2025 hosted an impressive range of exhibitors from around the world — including 1StopBorneo, AAA Adventures, Asian Ecotourism Network (AEN), ACT, Adam Rainoff, Antara Cruises, Asian Adventures India, Astral Foundation, Agami Photo Agency, Aranya by Sita, Ashwings Eco Ventures, Bird Watching Asia, Banjara Camps and Experiences, Bagheera’s Camp, Bagh Villas, Birders Store, Birdwatching East Africa Tours, BNHS, Borneo Trails, Burhan Wilderness Camps, Beyond, Chambal Safari Lodge, Classic Wild Sri Lanka, Clawear, Costa Rica Wildbird Tours, Chintan Research Foundation, Dada Guru Travels, Delhi Tourism, Discovery Journeys India, DMC Tours, Evolve Back, Eilat Bird Sanctuary, Finnature, Forest Brew, Fourways Safaris, University of Malaysia Sabah, GP Pro, Gujarat Tourism, Indian Pitta Books, Dhritiman Mukherjee, Jaguarundi Travel, Johnnie Uganda Safaris, Just Nature Expeditions, Kaav Safari Lodge, Kolibri Expeditions, Manakin Nature Tours, Muddy Lessons LLP, Musa Jungle Retreat, Natural World Explorer, Oceanwide Expeditions, OM System, Optisan Optics, Parvat Homes, Pardus Wild-Tech, Jungle Camps India, Predators Safari Club, Planet Life Resorts, Quantum Explorer Inc, UP Tourism, RTSOI, Warbler Tours, Rann Riders, RARE India, Roundglass Sustain, Rockjumper Birding Tours, Sicklebill Safaris, Silver Mountain, Snow Leopard Lodge, Sukau Greenview Travel & Tours, Svasara Jungle Lodge, Tathastu Resorts, TOFT, Trogon Tours, Tiger Camp, Utsav Camp Sariska, White Winged Journeys, Wildman International Travel & Tours, Taiwan Bird Guide, Wildlife Explorer India, World of Wilders Jhalana, Wild Africa by Manish Mundra, WTI, WWF, Waxpol Hotels & Resorts, and Zeiss — each showcasing the intersection of conservation, community, and responsible travel.

Conservation Partners Meet
WTI’s 2nd Conservation Partners Meeting (CPM) opened with remarks by Jose Louies and Sandeep Kumar Tiwari, moderated by Dr. Paromita Ray. Workshops covered documentation & filming (Dusty Foot Foundation), community presentations from Chug and Seinthuk (by Tripti Shukla and team), community engagement (Dr. Samir Kr Sinha), Kobo data collection (Neha Singh), community outreach (Saymanti B.), fundraising (Irfan Bashir, Daanveda), and WLPA 1972 & Amendment 2022 (Lovish Sharma). Field visits led by Vijay Dhasmana (Aravalli Biodiversity Park) and Dr. Faiyaz A. Khudsar (Yamuna Biodiversity Park) complemented sessions by David Fennell, Dr. Bhaskar Choudhury, WTI’s Wildlife Crime Control Division, and Peeyush Sekhsaria. The meet closed with screenings, feedback, and certificates; coordination support was provided by Raihanul, Shuvayu, and Sanchari (WTI).

Board Room Focused Talks & Training
Sessions featured Mr. Kunal Girotra (ZEISS Optics) on community-led conservation; Egor Sanchez on AI sound-based bird ID; Robin Suyesh on frogs; and a Roundglass Sustain workshop (Wild Narratives). The two-day Asian Ecotourism Standards of Accommodations (AESA) training ran through the weekend. The program concluded with Adam Rainoff on bird photography and Soulinnara Ratanavong (AEN-BM) on ASEAN ecotourism standards.

Students & Youth (Online Mode)

Morning themes:

• Entrepreneurship: keynote Dr. Gana Damba Gantemur; experts Timothy Teo, Nipatpong Chuan Chuen; panel including Anirudh Chaoji.
• Skills for Safaris & Tours: keynote Dr. David Fennell; experts Samir Thapa & Prabha Gautam, Dr Shailja Sharma.
• Careers in Conservation: keynote Hitesh Mehta; experts Nidhi Aggarwal, Mr Pham Hong Long; panel including Dr. Rajiv Bhartari and Rohit Chakravarty.

Afternoon themes:

• Wildlife–Tourism Conflict: R.P. Singh, Dr. Fiffy Hanisdah Binti Saikim, Nilanjan Basu.
• Community-Based Tourism: Raj Basu, Wita Permatasari Simatupang, Dr Shruti Kulkarni.
• Tech & Innovation: Dhruvam Desai, Dr Ashwin Viswanathan, Dr Sarita Subramaniam; LOI signing; certificates and AEN membership/volunteering.
• Sustainable Development: Marta Saya, Assoc. Prof. Dr Mahadimenakbar Mohamed Dawood, Franey Joseph Chong.
• Interpretation & Experience: Prof. Dr Jennifer Chan Kim Lian, Dr. Alan Wong, Mr. Kazuhiro.

Exhibitors’ Lectures
Global showcases included Finnature Ltd (Jari & Kaisa Peltomäki), Costa Rica Wildbird (Alfredo Scott), Just Nature Expedition (Erwin Agnel Drose), Trogon Tours (Luis Segura), Jungle Camps India (Samrat Godambe), Aranya by Sita (Vineet Mahendru, Neena Malhotra), Natural World Explorer (Riaz Cader), Jaguarundi Travel Colombia (Rene Montero), ANTARA River Cruises (Raj Singh), Oceanwide Expeditions (Mohit Batra), Pardus wild-tech LLP (Dhruvam Desai), Ramganga River Reserve & Ecolodge (Bhanu Prabhat), Quantum Explorer Inc (Neerdiv/Divyanshu Bankoti), AAAdventures/Amarun Pakcha (Andres Trujillo), MANAKIN Nature Tours (Luis Eduardo Urueña), Kolibri Expeditions – 7 Wonders Birding (Gunnar Engblom), Earth Focus Foundation (Vipul Gupta), Classic Destinations (Sri Lanka) (Ashan Piyasinghe, Rajiv Welikala), Discovery Journeys India (Chhobic Choudhary), IBRCE/BirdLife Israel (Noam Weiss), Dr. Yung-song Chen (Taiwan), Johnnie Uganda Safaris (Johnnie Kamugisha), MCBT GEP/Astral Foundation (Jailabdeen/Shashwat), Wildman/TaiwanBirdGuide (Kuan-Chieh “Chuck” Hung), Banjara Experiences (Ismail Shariff), Last Wilderness Foundation (Gaurav Shirodkar), Burhan Wilderness Camps (Prabha Gautam), Silver Mountain (Samir Thapa), Planet Life Resorts (Pankaj Lad), RARE India (Mr. Joseph Rajan Passah with Snow Leopard Lodge, Utsav Camp, Bagh Villas, Svasara Jungle Lodge, Kaav Safari Lodge), and Sukau Greenview Travel & Tours (Braun Subimo); concluding visuals by Dr. Hiren Shah and a reprise by Aranya by Sita.
 

Dinners & Outdoor Workshops

Dinners (invite-only): Oct 9 Inaugural Dinner (Silver Oak, India Habitat Centre); Oct 10 AEN-IEA Ceremony & Networking Dinner; Oct 11 Networking Dinner (both at Constitution Club of India).

Workshops & Walks: Led by Pankaj Gupta, Peeyush Sekhsaria, Dr Rajesh Kalra, Anirudh Chaoji, Richa Kedia, Sohail Madan, Anita Mani, and Sunil Harsana across Lodhi Garden, CCI, Amrut Biodiversity Park, Sanjay Van Park, Asita East DDA Park.