Guwahati: Assam-based conservationist Dr Varun R. Goswami, founder and senior scientist at Conservation Initiatives, has been honoured with the 2026 Hidden Heroes Award by KfW Stiftung for his work on biodiversity conservation and reducing human-elephant conflict.
The award was presented at the headquarters of KfW Development Bank in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on August 27.
Goswami was selected by a specialist jury for more than a decade of conservation work in Northeast India, with a focus on the Asian elephant, a threatened species whose habitat faces increasing pressure from fragmentation and human activity.
“The Hidden Heroes Award feels special to me at a very personal level because it celebrates those who quietly but decisively stand for, and by, nature,” Goswami said after receiving the award.
Formerly known as the KfW Bernhard Grzimek Prize, the Hidden Heroes Award carries prize money of €50,000 and recognises individuals whose often less visible work contributes to the protection of biodiversity, ecosystems and local communities.
Goswami’s work combines field research and quantitative methods to understand elephant movements and identify ways to reduce human-elephant conflict. His team uses techniques including capture-recapture models, landscape analysis and behavioural ecology to study elephant movements and identify landscapes and corridors that can support coexistence between people and elephants.
KfW Stiftung described Goswami’s approach as a potential model for wider biodiversity conservation.
“Dr Goswami shows impressively how scientific excellence and genuine engagement with people on the ground can work together to make conservation sustainable,” said Dr Michael Helbig, a board member of KfW Stiftung.
Photographs released with the award announcement show Goswami conducting field research and working with local communities in landscapes used by elephants, including tea plantations. The photographs were credited to Conservation Initiatives.
The award ceremony was hosted by German television presenter Bärbel Schäfer at KfW Bankengruppe’s headquarters in Frankfurt.
The Hidden Heroes Award has been presented since 2013, when it was established as the KfW Bernhard Grzimek Prize. Nine international conservationists had previously received the award for their contributions to biodiversity conservation.
KfW Stiftung, an independent non-profit foundation based in Frankfurt, was established in 2012 by KfW Bankengruppe. Its work covers ecology and sustainability, business and society, and arts and culture.