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Couple Buys 35 Acres of Land Next to a Tiger Reserve to Let the Forest Expand and Thrive

By Emma Taggart on February 18, 2020

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A post shared by Aditya “Dicky” Singh (@dickysingh) on Jan 28, 2020 at 4:31am PST

Spurred on by his love of nature and a desire to help wildlife, photographer Aditya Singh decided to quit his day job in 1998 and live in a remote corner of Rajasthan, next to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. He and his wife Poonam instantly fell in love with the wilderness and the animals who thrived there, so they decided to stay, protect, and even expand the land.

“The area is called Bhadlav. I had first gone to this area soon after settling in Ranthambore along with a BBC filmmaker,” reveals Singh. “This area adjacent to the boundary of the Ranthambore reserve was visited by predators like tigers who used to come for prey. As a result, farmers were selling their land.”

Singh and Poonam opened a tourist resort in order to earn a living, but still wanted to allow the wild areas of the reserve to remain natural and peaceful. Over the last 20 years, the pair bought around 35 acres of land, allowing the tiger reserve to expand and remain untouched by new built developments. Today, the area has become a lush green forest with several watering holes, where tigers, leopards, and wild boars roam free.

The Singhs’ land is now worth Rs 1 crore ($140,000), but they aren’t planning to sell it any time soon. In fact, they plan to buy even more land, and Singh wants to inspire others to do the same. “Money was never the consideration. It is just about my love for nature and wildlife,” he says. “Instead, these days I am getting queries from people across India who want to replicate a similar model in their state.”