Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit gave away the Millennium Award, carrying a cash prize of Rs two lakh, to Field Director B. S. Bonal in Delhi for "successfully protecting and improving the quality of habitat in the home to the large population of the one-horned rhino".

The Panna National Park in the semi-arid Bundelkhand reserve of Madhya Pradesh was awarded Rs 50,000 for saving forest from fires. Dr P K Chaudhury, Field Director, received the award on behalf of the park’s staff.

The Director of Project Tiger, P. K. Sen, who received a cash prize of Rs 20,000 for exemplary contribution to tiger conservation, dedicated the award money to the trackers and staff of the Palamau Tiger Reserve "who have not been received salary for the past eight months".

Mr. Sen also received the bravery award on behalf of S. Mohanty, Forester, Simipal Tiger Reserve in Orissa, who is recuperating in a hospital at Baripada from injuries sustained on a recent mission to drive back a herd of wild elephants that had strayed from the forests into a paddy field.

Ram Kumar, a daily wager of the Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh, Babulal Orang and Santen Barkachari, both forest guards of the Manas Tiger Reserve, and Thiru A. Udayan, Wildlife Warden of the Mudumalai National Park in Tamil Nadu, were awarded for special acts of bravery.

Dr Diwakar Sharma, an ayurvedic physician by profession and an undercover operator, was awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000 for his role in suppression of trade in tiger derivatives. Sharma did not attend the function for obvious reasons. Mrigen Baruah, Range Officer, Pobitara Wildlife Sanctuary, received an award in the same category.

S. Guruvayurappan, a sociologist in the eco-development project of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, was honoured for motivating "forest destroyers" to accept responsibility and involve them in tiger conservation.

A special award of Rs 5,000 was instituted at the behest of the jury and given to Mohammed Naseem of the Dudhwa National Park for his efforts to conserve and protect the natural habitat.