The Prince of Wales’s Earthshot prize will host its forthcoming annual awards ceremony at a venue owned by the billionaire Ambani family conglomerate, drawing criticism from conservationists over their fossil fuel businesses and their foundation’s controversial mega-zoo.
A spokesperson for the Earthshot prize, which awards £۱m to five winners every year to invest in conservation work, confirmed to the Guardian and the news outlet Mongabay that this year’s ceremony will be held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on ۱۷ November.
The venue is part of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, which also owns Jamnagar, the world’s biggest oil refinery in Gujarat on India’s western coast. The group’s philanthropic arm funds the ۴۰۰-hectare (۳,۵۰۰-acre) private zoo Vantara, which was founded by Mukesh’s son Anant Ambani and inaugurated by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, last year. The zoo is embroiled in a long-running controversy over its vast collection of more than ۱۵۰,۰۰۰ animals, which reportedly includes some of the world’s most endangered species – from the radiated tortoise, native to Madagascar, to the Spix’s macaw, endemic to north-eastern Brazil but now considered extinct in the wild.
Megan Carr, of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA), warned that using a venue owned by Reliance “could lend an unearned environmental prestige to a corporate group currently under question by the global conservation community”.
Conservation groups, including WAPFSA, have raised concerns about the speed with which Vantara has amassed so many animals, and about how they were sourced. The site, near the family’s oil refinery, houses more than ۲,۰۰۰ species of animals.
This week, the ۳۲-member committee that governs Cites, the UN-administered body that regulates trade in endangered species, requested that India submit another report on the steps it is taking to address concerns relating to its imports of protected species.
The committee also requested the Cites secretariat review ۱۱ cases where there are unresolved questions over how animals were sent to Vantara.
Joanna Swift, the executive director of communications at the Earthshot prize, said it had not sought a philanthropic partnership for its award ceremony venue and that it was paying the standard commercial rate to rent the space.
“The [Jio World Convention Centre] was selected because it allowed us to host the event in Mumbai while meeting the practical requirements of an event of this size. It offers world-class facilities, technical infrastructure and experience of hosting major international events, including environmental ones,” Swift said. “In February this year, JWCC hosted the first ever Mumbai climate week.”
Vantara, Kensington Palace and JWCC have been approached for comment.
Vantara has previously denied allegations of wildlife trafficking and says its purpose is “to rescue wild animals in distress, provide treatment along with lifelong care, and rehabilitate those fit for the wild”.
“With regulatory approval, we also breed select endangered or extinct-in-the-wild species, serving as a modern Noah’s Ark to ensure their survival under human care and restore wild populations through reintroduction,” Vantara says on its website.
Last year, India’s supreme court cleared the zoo of allegations that animals had been acquired illegally or mistreated.
A later Cites fact-finding mission raised concerns about India’s compliance with international rules on animal imports in ۲۰۲۵. It recommended temporary restrictions on India, although the recommendation was later withdrawn.
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Susan Cheyne, the vice-chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s small apes section, said that Vantara’s model has not yet been shown to support conservation and “may be driving demand for wild animals in trade”.
“For gibbons and other primates, this matters a great deal. Moving animals out of their range countries into a private facility does nothing for wild populations unless there is a transparent, credible plan for those animals: for welfare, for any conservation breeding with clear goals, and for return to range states where that is possible. Real rescue and sanctuary work for primates is done by underfunded centres in range countries,” Cheyne said.
Daniela Freyer, co-founder of the German NGO Pro Wildlife, added: “Our planet is increasingly threatened by the overexploitation of wildlife and by climate change driven by fossil fuels. This week, the Cites Standing Committee, which oversees international wildlife trade, decided to keep India under its compliance procedure, as questions remain about the origin of some of the world’s rarest animals imported to Vantara. A prize whose goals include protecting nature and fixing our climate should be careful not to lend its reputation to these questions.”
Vantara had sought to lobby the UK, the chair of this week’s Cites meetings, attempting to persuade officials to take a more sympathetic view of India’s handling of imports to Vantara, the Guardian and Mongabay reported earlier this month. Ministers were advised not to engage formally with Vantara, internal documents revealed.
The Earthshot prize, founded by Prince William in ۲۰۲۰, is billed as the most prestigious environmental award. William appeared on the BBC’s Graham Norton show last month to promote the prize, saying it was designed to “talk about urgency and optimism together”.
Swift said that it was vital to host an edition of the Earthshot prize in India.
“Mumbai is the sixth largest city on earth. It is home to exceptional environmental solutions and the people behind them, with an impact felt in India and around the world. Spotlighting progress like this, to the largest possible audience, is why the Earthshot prize exists,” Swift said.
