Jyotsna Sitling, an Indian Forest Service officer posted as director of the World Bank-sponsored Livelihood Improvement Project for the Himalayas, has been selected for the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar 2004 for her outstanding work in the conservation of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand.

She has been selected for the award for her unique effort to evolve a community-based waste management programme as director of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, a world heritage site. Her work to get rid the Buffer zone of the biosphere reserve of plastics and other non-biodegradable material through community participation is one of its type, in the country.

Due to her efforts, the Valley of Flowers, a part of the biosphere reserve, can now boast of one of the cleanest trek routes. The Vice-President will give her the award at a function on June 5, 2007.