Diary - Tales from Wild India » Tales from Wild India

Screening of “A Call in the Rainforest” in Haida Gwaii International Film Festival, Canada

Sabyasachi Patra — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 06:16:50 +0000

I am pleased to share that “A Call in the Rainforest” was screened in Haida Gwaii International Film Festival in Canada on 26th of Februrary, 2012. For further details on the film as well as the opening one minute sequence, please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/inspiration-for-the-film-a-call-in-the-rainforest/

I got the following feedback from Dafne Romero, Artistic Director of HGFF after the film was screened in Haida Gwaii Film Festival, Canada:

[QUOTE]

Dear Sabyasachi,

Your film was very well received it was one of the top favorite of 36
films we screened. Your film was a very inspirational topic for
environmental issues in our small Archipelago the population of our
island is less than 4,000 habitants and the 45 percent of the soth is
being protected by the UNESCO. We do have sitka white tale deer
overpopulated that is eating cedar trees and indigenous plants of
Haida Gwaii, we also have a oil pipe line Embridge proposed project
that is a high treat for our west coast waters in case of a oil spill.
Your film had a great sample of solutions to issues which brings new
avenues to think and address ours

Best Regards,

Dafne Romero
Artistic Director
HGFF
www.haidagwaiifilmfestival.ca

[UNQUOTE]

The film “A Call in the Rainforest” is now available on DVD for a nominal charge. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/a-call-in-the-rainforest-dvd/

Sabyasachi Patra

I am passionate about wildlife conservation. I am striving to make my films and photographs full of life and emotion and write articles to educate and evangelise the need for conserving the last tracts of vanishing wilderness sand wildlife in our country. I pray to the almighty that my wildlife films, photographs and writings force people to pause, look, ponder and ultimately take action. To make my ends meet, I work as Executive Director at MAIT (Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology)

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Wildlife Photographer’s Message to Students

Sabyasachi Patra — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 09:19:21 +0000

I was asked to contribute to a college newsletter by Bhargava Srivari – a member of IndiaWilds – and wrote this piece based on a few questions in August 2011. I guess the newsletter didn’t see the light of the day, So I am sharing it here for the benefit of all students and people interested in learning photography.

Childhood influence:
Wildlife Photography & filmmaking is a lifelong journey. When I look back, I realise that the seeds were sown early. As a kid, when one is at an impressionable age, it is often natural to get influenced by his/her parents and immediate surroundings. More so, when your father is a Professor of Zoology and often conducting post graduate Life Science and Ecology classes at our home. I used to listen to those descriptions of the complex relationships between various organisms – large and small – forgetting much of what was spoken but retaining the essence of it.

When I was eight years old, he had bought me books of Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson. The lucid writing style and the rich and vivid descriptions remained etched in my mind. After reading these books, and then listening to the classes, the quest to learn more about ecology and animal behaviour had firmly taken roots. My father had very good knowledge of photography and he used to bring photography books home. I remember trying to draw images of cameras looking at those colourful pages. I had never realised that those two will combine to lay a solid foundation for wildlife photography, filming and conservation which has become an all-consuming passion.

Bio-diversity and Need for Photo documentation:
Today, India is at a stage where there is huge clamour to create infrastructure. Our development model is flawed, and hence there is unequal development with cities growing bigger and bigger with migration from smaller towns and rural areas. With economic growth, more industries, dams, airports, canals etc are being planned. Unfortunately, the planners view our jungles as just source of timber or count the number of trees that would be hacked. Ecology is much more complex. There is a complex web of relationships binding various species with each other. Most of our fresh water resources originate from our forests. Many a civilisation has perished due to want of water. So protecting those bio-diversity rich areas would help in preserving our future economic security as well.

There is an acute lack of documentation of our many bio-diversity rich places and hence most of the times when a large infrastructure project is planned, these areas are easily sacrificed. These ecologically fragile areas are devastated even before we know that they exist, as documentation is non-existent. Photography can play a major role in documentation and increasing our understanding of the flora and fauna in these places. It would be impossible for one person to travel the entire length and breadth of this huge country and do a good job in documenting the rich bio-diversity. So India needs wildlife photographers who can document the various forests, sanctuaries, wetlands and other protected areas of this country. The challenge is to train the wildlife photographers so that they can see and document this amazing bio-diversity. Else, their focus will remain on the few mega fauna like tiger, lion, leopard, elephant, gaur, rhino etc.

Future of our Protected Areas:
India now has a billion plus population and increasing its population every other second. This huge population is increasing the pressures on the available land. Need and greed is fuelling the increased concretization and reduction of green areas. The wilderness areas are increasingly being fragmented and bound by human settlements. This has led to isolation of our wilderness areas. Migration of our fauna from one forest to the other is becoming impossible. This is impacting the genetic diversity and as a result, their resistance to diseases goes down. The survival of many species is at stake and in many areas one will only find the remaining few of the species being radio-collared for scientific studies or just for tracking. One has to be satisfied at the sight of lions, tigers and elephants wearing radio collars. And with the small size of our protected areas, the feeling of being in a zoo is complete.

Digital Photography and Ethics:

The rapid increase in digital technology is increasingly resulting in cameras becoming better and better. Today, one can just shoot a video and select one still frame out of the video footage from high end cameras. One can also place cameras in camera traps and later use those photographs. With increased technology, there is also the question of ethics of wildlife photographers. The younger generation of photographers are finding it difficult not to take short cuts. One can select the animal from one image and paste it with a pleasing background photographed separately and fake it as originally photographed in the field. There have been instances of even reputed photographers taking the shortcuts. So the old adage that a “Photograph never lies” is challenged severely. To verify such claims one needs to check the RAW image from the camera. Since the viewers of photographs in a magazine or newspaper won’t have the luxury to verify the authenticity of the images, the wildlife photographers will be looked at with suspicion.

This will have a major impact on use of photographs as documentary evidence of the bio-diversity of an area. So people who want to setup large projects in ecologically fragile areas will argue that the photographs are not real. So that will increase the challenge for the few of us who are engaged in documenting the wilderness areas. We will then have to take added pains of showing the RAW files, geo tagging etc.

Conservation Movement in India:

In India, there have been a few brilliant individuals who have raised their voice for conservation. However, it has never attained a mass movement, except for a few instances like the Chipko movement when villagers hugged the trees to prevent logging of those trees. The few champions of Conservation efforts in India are branded as elitist by opponents. In India, we don’t have a conservation movement. Unless we are able to raise awareness about the conservation issues and educate people about the perils of the present flawed model of economic growth, and the resulting challenges of climate change, it would be difficult to enlist the support of the masses. It is very important to enlighten the individuals and harness the power of “WE” by creating a cohesive network of like-minded citizens for conserving the fast vanishing wilderness and wildlife in this country. It is with this express purpose, I had founded the IndiaWilds so that concerned individuals can join at www.indiawilds.com/forums raise their voice and become change agents themselves.

Why Save Wild Tigers?

As a kid, I remember starring at a photo of a tiger in a bookstore. Many of us have been mesmerised by the tiger. From my childhood days, I have read a lot of books and research papers written about tigers in India and abroad and have spent many hours watching tigers in the wild in safaris or have also spent many hours alone waiting for a tiger to make its appearance near waterholes and other places. The more I learn about the tiger, the more I feel I am in awe about its intelligence, its beauty and the need to conserve God’s most magnificent creation. The Tiger is the Apex predator, perched on top of a complex chain of ecological relationships including animals, birds and plants. To save the tiger we also need to save its habitat. So saving the tiger will help in preserving the entire ecosystem.

Message to Students:
I feel it is important to find out what you are passionate about and then continue working on it. If you are passionate about your subject, then you will know more about it and it will show up in your work. It will help in persevering even when there are challenges. Not everybody can become a professional wildlife photographer or filmmaker or a conservationist and devote all the time. However, one can take up one cause as a Life Project and then continue working on it. I am sure one day you will achieve success.

If you are a budding wildlife photographer, then it is better that you first learn more about your subject. Unless one knows animal behaviour, it becomes difficult to predict the movement of the subject and get great images. So try reading books, journals, articles in the internet etc.

You all should try writing either in English or in your mother tongue. There is a severe shortage of good writing in various Indian languages. Keep on sharing your thoughts as you continue learning. There would be many people who will find your writings interesting and will learn from you.

Wildlife photography is also all about perseverance. One can’t just take one safari in the jungle and expect to see a tiger and create a world famous image. You need to keep on taking one step at a time and build up your work. It takes years of effort, along with your personal vision to show your subject in its own unique way.

And last but not least, please don’t forget to raise your voice to protect the remaining wilderness areas and wildlife in this country. After all millions of Indians are now starring at the specter of climate change, and our economic security and protection of our bio-diversity are interlinked.

Sabyasachi Patra

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IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue XII

Sabyasachi Patra — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:55:37 +0000

IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue XII

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter tries to take a deep dive into our culture to find solutions for today’s environmental problems.

Conservation: Learnings from Mahabharata

Fear:

Several incidents and examples that I have faced or read have remained in my memory as I have not been able to get an answer.

During my childhood days, while wandering alone in the nearby hillock, I have always been fearful whether I will stumble upon some unknown animal or snake. I have no idea if it was a result of reading Jim Corbett’s experiences in his much acclaimed book “Jungle Lore” where as a child he had accidentally stepped upon a sleeping python and had immediately discharged his muzzle loading gun into it and ran away as fast as he could. In later years, I had successfully overpowered this fear and used to sit alone in waterholes in the night waiting for animals come to drink water.

However, I often wonder why we get tensed when faced with an unknown situation and tend to kill/subjugate the other. This thought had again come to my mind when I was reading Dr. George Schaller’s experiences in the high Himalayas, especially in his book “Stones of Silence”. He had said that hardly anyone had visited Changthang and other pristine wilderness areas and had encountered animals that didn’t have any fear of humans.

Two weeks back, on 9^th December, Dr. George Schaller showed us his slides and he said that these animals had no fear of man. They were never persecuted by man, so didn’t run away when he approached close. However, these days people rundown animals using their motor cycles, if they don’t have guns. As a result, the animals develop fear and now runaway when they see an approaching human being.

In a stark contrast to the lack of fear seen in animals by Dr. Schaller, a few weeks back, fifteen bullets from an automatic AK 47 were pumped into a lactating tigress near the Kohra range in Kaziranga: http://indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8119

This senseless and arrogant display of firepower in pumping fifteen bullets from the AK 47 left many people stunned.

We always talk of sensitising the armed forces and police etc that they should not over react. Whenever, the armed forces have been given clear-cut instructions they have followed it religiously and have even given up their lives in trying to uphold those instructions. For eg. the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) in Srilanka was instructed not to fire at civilians and the LTTE militants had even taken benefit of this by hiding within civilians and firing at the IPKF soldiers. So it becomes a bit difficult to understand why the armed forces and police officers become trigger happy when they see a wild animal. Why cannot they be instructed to maintain peace in front of stone-throwing mob without firing at a tiger or leopard?

The question that comes to my mind is with no one persecuting us – except for our own brethren – why are we so insecure? Why our first reaction is to kill or maim any animal that appears on our way?

Nabagunjara:

Nabagunjara Rupa by Traditional Oriya Artists

In my childhood days we used to read the Mahabharata and I was especially fond of the carvings in the stones in various temples in Orissa. There is the mention of Krishna taking the “Nabagunjara rupa” or the form of a monster Nabagunjara to test Arjuna. The monstrous Nabagunjara had head of a rooster, neck of a peacock, left fore feet of an elephant, one hind leg of tiger and the other hind leg of horse, waist of lion, hump of bull, tail in form of a snake, and the right fore leg in the form of a human hand carrying a lotus. However, Arjuna could immediately know that Krishna is playing a trick on him as he could see the Padma ie lotus in the human hand. While reading Devdutt Pattanaik’s retelling of the Mahabharata titled “Jaya”, I was again reminded of this. He has reminded us that this Nabagunjara story highlights an important facet of Hindu philosophy “what cannot be understood by the human intellect need not be feared because it ultimately comes from God.”

In a country where the majority of people are Hindus and since in the past we have had massive mobilisation of people for building a temple, one ought to expect that the Hindu philosophy of not fearing the unknown is followed and we don’t resort to killing any animal, bird, insect, reptile that we find near our human habitations.

Is it a product of our complicated modern life where each of us is looking to “lord over” a lesser mortal to compensate for being subjugated by someone else in the social/official hierarchy?

Or is it because we have forgotten our culture?

Dr. George Schaller had said that Conservation is all about “Culture, Economics and Politics”. With our politicians displaying the propensity to self-destruct and the economic modeling failing to take into account our nature heritage, the Culture plank may be the only hope for Conservation.

Discharging Hot Water: Learnings from Mahabharata:

At a time, when our nuclear scientists and planners are least bothered about the impact of the hot water they want to discharge in the creeks of Jaitapur where the nuclear power plant is planned, it would be pertinent to quote an incident from Mahabharata. (For details about Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6313

After the Mahabharata war, where one billion and two hundred and twenty million people were killed, Gandhari had asked Krishna as to why her 100 sons had to die. Krishna had replied that it was written in Gandhari’s fate that she was destined to watch her 100 sons die. Krishna told Gandhari that during her younger days, while cooking rice she had poured hot water on the ground thereby destroying hundred eggs of an insect. This had made the insect curse Gandhari to witness the death of her sons the way the insect had to see the death of her own.

Stunned by this discourse, Gandhari had said that it was the act of an innocent child. Krishna had explained that the laws of Karma are like that. Every action howsoever unintentional has an equal reaction, and one has to experience it in this life or the next. So in Andhra Pradesh women are advised never to pour hot water on the ground. The hot water must be cooled or mixed with cold water before pouring on the ground.

In a country with such a rich culture and with specific examples, do we need to look elsewhere to learn how we treat our mother earth?

In the Vishnu Purana, Dharitri or the Earth Goddess took the form of a cow to complain to Vishnu that she has been milked so greedily by the kings on earth that her udders have become sore. So Vishnu promised her that Parashurama, Ram and Krishna will spill blood to teach the greedy kings will a lesson so that she can drink their blood taking the form of a lioness. In another retelling of this story by Devadutt Patnaik in his book “Jaya”, Bhisma on his death bed had told Yudhishtira, the eldest Pandava, that King Vena was killed by the sages when Dharitri or Earth Goddess tired of the exploitation ran away inform of a cow and cried before the sages. Prithu, the son of the slain King Vena, begged before the Earth goddess that without her, his subjects will die. The earth goddess had replied that her udders have been squeezed till it is sore and her back broken by the ambition of the people. This led to Prithu creating a Code of conduct for all humans based on empathy rather than exploitation for the survival of all humanity. This code of conduct was given the name “Dharma” by Prithu. By this code, the earth became a cow while kings became the earth’s cowherds ensuring there was always enough milk for humans as well as the cow’s calves. Today the kings have made way for democratically elected Governments, military rulers, greedy corporations that are often bigger than some countries and other despots.

One should take cues from this example and learn that there is one earth where we live. It is enough for our needs but not our greeds. We need to stop this exploitation of mother earth. We need to rise above this petty fight as to who is responsible for this climate change and who ought to pay/sacrifice their material comforts and ensure that we lessen mother earth’s burden and cool down her anger.

Other Conservation Issues:

Hydropower rejected by FAC – approved by Ministry:

A project developed by GMR in Uttarakhand on Alakananda river was earlier rejected by the forest advisory committee. However, the ministry has decided to give the go ahead for this project which will now come up in the ecologically sensitive area.

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8098

Climate Change: Waiting on climate is escapism: Dr Pachauri

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8251

Climate Change: India in climate change agreement with neighbours:

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7996

More than 100 leopards killed in Uttarakhand in 2011

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8200

Alarm due to Crow deaths

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8213

India Does not need Nuclear energy

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7896

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between Nov. 10th 2011 and Dec 9th 2011 that depict interesting behavior, habitat, rare species or just plain beautiful.

Blue Sheep by Hem Chander

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8003

Wild Ass by Supreet Sahoo

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7995

White Bellied Sea-eagle Pair by Abhishek Jamalabad

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8161

Ruddy Turnstone by Roopak Gangadharan

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8026

Purple Sunbird by Kalpamoi Kakati

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8019

Jumping Spider by Joshi Bhavya

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7952

Announcement:

IndiaWilds has completed three years..

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8151

I look forward to your support and inputs in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check : http://www.indiawilds.com/forums

All the newsletters can be found online at http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter/

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com Others may register at www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php using your Full Name as user id.

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
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Sabyasachi Patra

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IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue XI

Sabyasachi Patra — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:24:59 +0000

IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue XI

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter examines the present sad state of wildlife tourism, its negative impact and way forward. You comments are appreciated at the end of the article.

Toilets on top of the world:

I was startled and astonished when I came across a news article about a demand for setting up of toilets in the Everest. Their reasoning was that though the mountaineers use portable toilets, the hordes of sherpas who are employed to carry luggage relieve themselves wherever they want and hence the need for toilets.

My initial reaction changed to sadness when the realization dawned by the extent of devastation we are wrecking on our pristine wilderness areas. The highest mountain peak in the world has seen many mountaineers attempting to scale it or “conquer” it as they say. Ever since this mountain was surveyed and given the tag of the highest mountain in the world, it has caught the imagination of mountaineers from around the world. There have been hundreds of deaths while attempting to scale this peak or while returning after a “successful” summit, often these are also due to people consciously attempting a difficult route. While it is difficult and beyond the scope of this article to talk about why this fascination to flirt with danger or glory – depending upon ones point of view – has continued for several decades, the point is that with the march of technology, there are better materials available for all your needs. Infact, it has become a thriving industry to help people climb the Everest. About 9 years back someone had asked me whether I am willing to spend 8000 dollars (eight thousand US dollars) to climb the Everest. I had politely declined the offer. I knew that I was physically not fit enough to undertake a successful climb of Everest and it is beneath my dignity to take that offer and be literally pulled up by sherpas. Nevertheless, that is what happens and wealthy tourists flock to the Everest so that they can brag about their latest “conquest”.

Wildlife tourism the “In Thing”:

And this is precisely what is happening these days. People with sufficient disposable wealth want to do something to get some bragging rights. And unfortunately, visiting wildlife destinations and wildlife photography is considered to be a “happening thing”, as I was told by a few youngsters whom I met in a National Park. The effect of this fad can be seen clearly in our well known national parks.

Tourists hound this radio collared tigress in Ranthambhore

Hordes of tourists screaming at their top of voice when they see a tiger; tourist jeeps jostling with each other for space hitting each other and hurling abuses; tourist vehicles and forest department elephants blocking the path of the tiger forcing to wait for hours away from water in a hot summer day so that tourists can get to see the tiger; tourist resorts coming up in ecologically fragile places; township developing to cater to the constant influx of tourists along with the attendant problems…. The list is endless.

Ranthambhore tiger stopped from hunting by photographers

Too much of tourism:

The fact is there are too many people visiting our few national parks, and it is beyond the carrying capacity of the place. Unfortunately, instead of restricting the number of tourists entering the forests, the draft eco-tourism guidelines by the MoEF talks about a formula which means tourist vehicles move around in a procession with a particular distance between them. Is this what our forests are meant to be? Degenerated into safari parks?

Touching and feeding a Nilgai in Tadoba

The late Kailash Sankhala, the first director and creator of the Project Tiger, had raised his voice against tourism several decades back.

Quoting Shri Kailash Sankhala from his book Tiger! The story of the Indian Tiger “I would suggest we concentrate on creating reserves where man’s interference – or what he arrogantly calls “scientific management” – is minimal. I do not like the term “national parks”, for it has been too loosely used. The initial meaning of “the untouched glory of God” has been so diluted that it has lost its significance. The term “park” conveys artificiality and the word “national” limits its universal appeal. The pleasure of a visit to a natural area has been destroyed by the influx of tourists with their transistors and trailers. I would condemn even the camera, except in case of professionals who employ their skill to interpret nature for the benefit of those millions who never get the chance to visit these gardens of Eden. The casual visitor is always in a hurry, and if he takes pictures he fails to see anything around him; his mind is preoccupied with shutter speeds, lens openings and focusing. The uncertainty of the results haunt him for hours after and instead of enjoying a relaxed holiday he is tensed. Many a wildlife photographer does not hesitate to disturb, sometimes even kill an animal, pluck a flower or destroy a tree to suit his picture. The visitor to a reserve should bring with him nothing but a receptive mind, and take away nothing but the understanding that he is only a small part of the whole complex pattern of nature’s ecology.”

An analysis of the impact of tourism infrastructure in Ranthambhore can be found here:
(http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-v/).

Wildlife tourism is supposed to be non-consumptive and have minimal impact on wildlife and wilderness areas. However, the way wildlife tourism is run in this country, it is having a huge negative impact on the wilderness areas and wildlife. A tiger cub was mowed down by a tourist vehicle in Bandhavgarh on 21^st April 2009 (for details please check here:http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-1-issue-v/) and the case meandered towards a natural death. It is a different matter that the tour operator in this case, as well as most of the tour operators call themselves tiger experts, bringing into light the issue of lack of any control or license. A year after this, a tigress was mowed down by a forest department vehicle in the night, while doing an illegal night safari for some influential persons (For details check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/bandhavgarh-tigress-runover-by-jeep/). Predictably this case too made no headway. Despite this the tour operators maintain that they are eco-friendly.

The tour operators associations say that there are a “few black sheep” in the tourism industry who bring disrepute, else more or less the tourist operators are ethical and are the champions of conservation.

Nothing can be farthest from the truth!

PIL to Ban Tourism in Core Areas:

Recently, a PIL being heard in the Supreme Court to ban tourism in the core areas of the tiger reserves has brought the conflict of tourism vis-a-vis conservation into the open. The NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) has favoured the proposal to ban tourism in the core areas. Predictably this has irked the tourism community.

Interestingly, a part of the conservation community – NGOs, media, and a few so called conservationists – have sprung to the defence of the tourist operators. Tourism is a cash cow and many players have a stake in that which includes wildlife activists, forest officials, tribal rights activists, researchers and other NGOs. It is standard ethical practice which warrants people who have a stake in the tourism pie, should refrain from offering their views as conservationists in this issue.

This case in the Supreme Court can have far reaching consequences. The tribal rights activists say that since the conservationists have argued that there is a need for inviolate spaces – and there have been a few successful efforts to shift villages from the core areas – there should not be any human foot fall in these core areas. However, no human footfall is an impracticable idea and can’t be implemented as well.

It is a fact that we need inviolate areas for our wildlife. And it is also a fact that the tourism in its present avatar is highly counter-productive and needs to be streamlined and curtailed in certain areas. I firmly believe and agree with Kailash Sankhala that human interference should be restricted to the minimum and allow “professionals who employ their skill to interpret nature for the benefit of those millions who never get the chance to visit these gardens of Eden” and patrolling units for the protection of these forests. Road building activities inside the core area should be immediately discontinued.

Lack of Tourism Policy:

Unfortunately, the present state of affairs in the tourism arena is such that it is absolutely difficult to derive pleasure during our visits to the forests. It is sad that lack of tourism policy, is pushing our forests into such an abhorrent state. My analysis of the ecotourism practices in Botswana (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-iv/)was shared with the MoEF. A year later MoEF came out with its draft Eco-tourism guidelines which appeared to be hurried collated (my analysis of it appeared in the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue VI http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-3-issue-vi/). It is really unfortunately, that the men and women in power instead of taking a holistic view are playing the game of blind men and the elephant and interpreting this as per their convenience.

The way tourism is run in this country needs to be regulated. At a minimum the following points needs to be tackled immediately:

Ecotourism Operators:

Due diligence should be carried out before allowing any groups or individuals to set up resorts in sensitive areas.
Effort should be to minimize concrete or permanent structures. Absolutely no concrete inside the forests. Instead promote camping using tents.
The individuals, groups, organizations entering into this field should show their commitment to recruit the right kind of resources, adopt best practices etc.
The Government may help them in enriching their knowledge from time to time by creating a best practices compendium, organizing seminars etc.

Where:

At present tourism operators are crowded around a few places. In the absence of any legislation, our tourism operators will only move to well established areas to pick up the low hanging fruit first. For example, when CC Africa (a group well known for its ecotourism practices in Africa) set up its operations in India along with Taj (India’s one of the top most ethical organization); they set up their operations in well known areas like Kanha, Bandhavgarh etc instead of venturing into little known places. In sharp contrast, Jungle Lodges, a unit of Govt. of Karnataka’s Tourism Department, popularized BR Hills as a wildlife destination after setting up their resort in a relatively unknown place like K Gudi.
New areas should be identified, the carrying capacity measured and tourist operators invited to set up their services in a controlled manner. Tour operators in these less visited areas can provide camping experiences by taking people on treks.

How:

EIA done by reputed professionals and open to public scrutiny. There should be annual Environment Impact Assessment of the resort.
Local construction materials used. The design should be in sync with the landscape. The construction should be based on the local conditions like weather, fragile environment, water scarcity etc. Brick-and-mortar resorts should be avoided in environmentally sensitive areas.
A cradle to grave approach should be used to monitor the entire lifecycle of all materials used in construction.
The resort should have a knowledgeable ecologist/naturalist as part of the team.
Though it is good to promote Traditional crafts and culture. It should not be made a practice to conduct tribal dance, sale of handicrafts and other items in the forest. Else, this brings in more people from outside to setup shops. A well known case is Tala village in Bandhavgarh which had around 6 original families and now it is a small town offering even massage joints.
In case the land is already degraded, the tour operator should take action to restore it along with its original vegetation.
The Government should create a list of plants and trees in each area and make it mandatory for the resorts to adhere to it. The ecotourism site should be landscaped with vegetation native to that area. Landscaping should not be meant as creating lawns.
Air-conditioners go against the grain of Ecotourism. The use of local materials, natural ventilation and local trees shading the cottages would help in removing the requirement of air conditioners.
Light pollution should be minimized by designing appropriate lighting.
Energy conservation should be prioritized. Renewable energy, especially solar energy should be used in the ecotourism facilities. The Government should provide adequate subsidies. A monitoring mechanism should be set up. Solar panels should be used for both, heat water as well as generate electricity for select appliances such as fans, lights, and kitchen equipment, water heating etc. Occupancy sensors should be used to cut down on unnecessary electricity consumption.
It is estimated that approximately 30% water use in resorts is used for toilet flushing. Low flush toilets should be used to cut down on the water requirements.
All cleaners, polishes and pesticide must be biodegradable, noncorrosive, non toxic and phosphate-free.
All buildings should be connected by raised walkways to prevent vegetation from being trampled. Ground cover and other plant and animal life continues to flourish underneath the raised walkways and tent-cabins, and the trees and vegetation whose lives we spared return the favor by protecting us and our guests from the hot tropical sun. A similar structure is present in the White Tiger Lodge in Bandhavgarh.

Our wilderness areas and wildlife cannot be subservient to anyone’s interests and should not suffer due to the negligence of forest department in implementing laws or due to the inability of the law makers to frame adequate laws. I hope the Supreme Court case acts as a trigger to much needed action. Some news articles and discussions can be found here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7895

Other Conservation Issues:

Windmill Projects and bird hits:

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7948

Navy’s Andaman & Nicobar missile test plan threatens Nicobar Megapode

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7899

Articles in IndiaWilds:

IndiaWilds invites articles written on various conservation,scientific and natural history issues. For further details you may mail at administrator@indiawilds.com

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between 10^thOct 2011 – 9^thNov 2011 that depict interesting behavior, habitat or are just plain beautiful.

A rare sighting: Red Fox by Dipankar Mazumdar

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7875

A rare sighting: Musk Deer by Kaling Dai

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7784

Blackbuck female by Jitendra Katre

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7800

Green bee-eaters in action by Atul Sinai

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7902

Coppersmith barbet by Dr. Kalpamoi Kakati

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7726

Common Crow Chrysalis by Abhishek Jamalabad

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7673

Lizard by Mohan Matang

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7737

Snail by Jitendra Katre

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7762

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter/

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.comOthers may register at www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php using your Full Name as user id.

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
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Sabyasachi Patra

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Keoladeo Ghana National Park – no more Ghana

Sabyasachi Patra — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 15:13:22 +0000

Keoladeo Ghana National Park – No more Ghana

I have been visiting Keoladeo Ghana bird sanctuary in bharatpur every year. The only years I missed visiting bharatpur are the years when the park faced water scarcity. Keoladeo Ghana is a man made wetland. The ruler of bharatpur had prepared dykes and had brought in water from the canal to create a bird hunting ground for himself and his guests. Spread over an area of 27 sq km, the wetland portion is about 10 hectares. When one looks at these facts, one gets the confidence that with a little bit of thought and planning, we can create enabling conditions for nature to take over.

When one hears that there were leopards in this park, one should not be amazed as there are spotted deers, sambar, nilgai, wild boar, jackals, hyenas, fishing cats, jungle cats, pythons etc in the park. A few years back a tigress had come to the park and had lived there for a few years till she died of old age. Recently, a male tiger has come from Ranthambhore and have taken its residence here. It is a mystery as to how it survived in the open fields, as there is very less of forest cover in between.

I reached the hotel and immediately started for the park, thought the light at noon is not conducive for photography. However, I wanted to get a feel of the jungle and hoped to sight a few carnivores. I took one rickshaw however, the driver was not good in bird identification. Ofcourse, his job became easier, as there were hardly any birds in the park.

All along, I had been told that there is lot of water in the park, however, when I entered into the park, I realised that it was propaganda by the hotel lobby. There were hardly any migratory species in the park in significant numbers.

On the main road to my left, I could see only 7 painted storks nesting on their regular nesting site. The rickshaw puller said that is all as far as painted storks arrival to this park is concerned. Later I saw about 10 painted storks in the same spot. There were a couple of open billed storks, 3-4 grey herons and a few purple herons. I saw a group of lesser whistling teals (about 20), cormorants about 20-30. There may be more in other parts of the park. Parakeets, Grey Francolins, a couple of kingfishers, one lesser spotted eagle, asian koel, one Indian moorehen near the entry of the park ie. about half a kilometer away from water, and a few peafowls, bulbuls, shrike etc. I saw only one male comb duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos).

In short, the number of birds and the number of species present in bharatpur as on Oct 2010, doesn’t merit a visit there. You will find more birds in your local swamp/wetland, than in bharatpur.

Other changes in the park:

The visitor entry fees has been doubled from Rs. 25 to Rs. 50. Rickshaw charges have been increased from Rs. 50 per hour to Rs. 70 per hour. Rickshaw pullers have been given id cards and they need to swipe it infront of a card reader before entering into the park (second gate near the boating area). That will help in keeping a tab on the entry and exit times.

I saw a number of roads closed to public. I was told that those roads are closed so as to prevent people from reaching the area where the tiger movement is more. Though the general public is not allowed to get in, I saw the forest department gypsy carrying presumably family members into the park after the gates closed at 6 pm and also I saw the same people returning at 6.50 am in the morning. One can easily guess, that they were on a tiger safari after and before park timings into the areas where general public is not allowed.

Infact, my rickshaw puller was banned for 7 days as he was 2 mins late. And this happened right after the official gypsy carrying the “tourists” /relatives into the park (on 22nd Oct).

There are local people inside the park collecting wood, cutting grass etc. The number of cattle grazing has increased. Earlier, one used to find the feral cattle. Now the regular milch cows are also sent to the park for grazing. So the Park authorities appear to be more intent on controlling the rickshaw pullers and tourists and turning a blind eye on the disturbances and rule violations caused by the locals.

In 2008, the Park authorities had entrusted the local villagers in uprooting the prospis juliflora plants. Areas were demarcated for each family to uproot and take the plants. I was told that each family made upto one lakh rupees. The forest department did this hoping that they will earn the goodwill of the local residents.

Though the prosopis juliflora is an invasive species, uprooting those gave rise to open areas. With increased number of cattle grazing in the park, and collection of fallen branches and wood cutting, the park is no longer dense with vegetation any more. Keoladeo Ghana National Park has got its name Ghana due to the dense vegetation in the park. These days, it would be apt to drop the name Ghana from the Keoladeo Ghana National Park.

The temperature was much higher than that in Delhi. One needs to switch on the Air conditioner in the hotels. Given the high temperature in bharatpur, the water is drying up fast. Migratory birds like ducks and geese etc may give the park a skip this year, if the water doesn’t remain. I am not sure whether the water level will dry up before January or not. Definitely, February will have no water, if there are no rains. In all probability, the migratory birds appear to be skipping the park this year. With the continued neglect by the authorities and the local people in supplying water from the dam, Keoladeo Ghana may soon be a lost cause forever.

Other Facts:
Season: Open throughout the year. Winter is good for migratory birds.

How to Reach:
In case, you are still interested in visiting Keoladeo National Park in bharatpur.
By train: Easiest to approach by train from Delhi. You can take the Golden Temple, Kota Janashatabdi or other trains as per your convenience. The Bharatpur (code BTE) station is about 2kms and 25mins away from the Park.

By Road: Distance is about 179 kms from Delhi and 56kms from Agra. If you are driving from Delhi then take the NH2 to Mathura via Faridabad, Palwal, Hodal and from Mathura to Bharatpur by the state road.

Accomodation: There are many hotels near the Park and one should be ready to search for the hotel that suits the budget.

Sabyasachi Patra

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IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol 2 Issue X

Sabyasachi Patra — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 17:43:32 +0000

IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol 2 Issue X

This issue of the IndiaWilds Newsletter brings into focus our skewed sense of priorities in conserving a few mega fauna; baiting wildlife, feral dogs menace and many more.

Skewed Conservation Priorities
There have been criticism about our conservation efforts having a very narrow species specific, infact megafauna centric approach. I recollect the passionate but slightly uninformed criticism of Project Tiger by one of the artists. The common example given is that Project Tiger was specific to tigers and was not interested in anything else. It is often acknowledged that the plight of the tiger – with tour operators organizing guided tours to hunt down the tiger – and the forceful voices of Billy Arjan Singh and Kailash Sankhala and the support of WWF International had motivated Mrs. Indira Gandhi to give the go ahead for the ambitious Project Tiger. A few nature preserves were created and unfortunately named as National Parks (it is another matter that our tourists take the word park literally. For more details check this link here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1536 ) and the apex predator numbers increased. Unfortunately, later on the success of Project Tiger was evaluated by the numbers projected by the officials manning these National Parks. This coincided with a period where the knowledge of unraveling the secrets of wildlife had declined tremendously. I have seen DFOs failing to differentiate between the pugmarks of a leopard and tiger. With lack of real experts, the pugmark counting method had degenerated to a comedy of the absurd. No wonder, the official tiger estimation/census became a game of elementary arithmetic and crude logic…

However, despite the officials failing to see the light, protection accorded to the sanctuaries and National Preserves, ensured that nature displayed its amazing ability to recoup and rebuild our wilderness areas and the population of birds and bees, herbivores and carnivores, fishes and otters and other species rebounded. In short, the protection accorded to a landscape in the name of saving the tiger, had saved very many species.

However, India – even after dismemberment of vast areas into separate countries – is geographically huge and harbours several unique ecosystems with flora and fauna species. In some of these landscapes, protected areas have been created to accord specific emphasis to a particular species. However, an unfortunate tendency has creeped in where in these species specific protected areas don’t get the required attention. For eg. In the Karera Sanctuary created for the Great Indian Bustard has got the approval from Govt. for denotification following the local extermination of the Great Indian Bustards. (Read More: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3712 )
It might be pertinent to recollect that the Great Indian Bustard would have been given the honour of our National Bird, however Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had shot down the proposal as he felt that Indians with their penchant for misspelling English words would end up with a foul word.

There are many such examples of animals other than the tiger getting step motherly treatment. Infact, recent reports suggest that the leopard, despite the wily survivor it is, can become extinct before the tiger. For further details read The Plight of the Leopards: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4886

One should realise that there is a complex chain of ecological relationships among the various species. We can’t just selectively protect one species and feel that our environment has been taken care of. For eg. Read more about the role played by the smallest of the birds (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118 ). The common man may not be aware of this fact; however, our researchers and conservationists must be aware of it. Is it showing in their actions?

Alien Species Reintroduction – African Cheetah
With the Environment Ministry under a dynamic Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh, the ministry has been proactive and there have been many decisions in support of conservation and unfortunately a few misplaced decisions as well. One of the decisions that falls in the later category is that of the Cheetah Relocation Project.

A decision has been taken to introduce an alien species – the African Cheetah – in the wilds of India. As a child, I used to read the idea of cloning and/or procuring Asiatic cheetah from Iran. However, that idea has been a non-starter. So an easier route is being taken to introduce the African cheetah in India. One of the justifications is an emotive one, that the word cheetah is derived from Sanskrit. The other argument given is that the cheetah project would ensure protection of our grasslands. For further details on the Cheetah Relocation project please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1888

The question that comes to mind, is if we are unable to protect our existing species and wilderness areas then will gimmicks like introduction of alien species help us wake up from our slumber?

Wild Buffalo
Take the case of a species that is in dire straits – the Indian Wild Buffalo. The central Indian stock is noted as having the genetic purity. Today many people don’t even know that the wild buffalo is on the verge of extinction. The only ones that will remain will be the mixed breed with the local buffalos. These questions were asked in the Parliament last year in the Rajya Sabha and answered on 20th of July 2009 and came to our notice courtesy Shri Surjit Bhujabal, IRS and conservationist. It has been reproduced below verbatim.

[QUOTE]
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1668
ANSWERED ON-20.07.2009
WILD BUFFALOES.

(a) whether it is a fact that there are only 5-6 wild buffaloes in the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve;

(b) the details of wildlife census reports, including those of wild buffaloes, since 2000;

(d) whether it is also a fact that all the remaining Wild Buffaloes in the Udanti area have now been kept inside enclosures and if so, under plan of action prepared; and

(e) the details of the action plan along with the necessary reports relating thereto?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS

(SHRI JAIRAM RAMESH)

(a) As per information received from the Government of Chhattisgarh, presently there are seven wild buffaloes (five adult male, one sub adult male and one adult female) in Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary. However, there are no wild buffaloes in Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuary.

(b) The estimated population of wildlife in Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary since 2001, including wild buffaloes, is at Annexure.

(c) The reasons for the decline in the population of wild buffalo are mainly attributed to habitat loss, biotic pressure and human-animal conflict.

(d)&(e) No, Sir. As informed by the State Government, only one female wild buffalo with her sub adult calf and one adult male are presently kept inside the enclosure for breeding purpose. The breeding programme of wild buffalo in Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary has been taken up under the wild buffalo recovery plan as recommended by the Wild Buffalo Task Force constituted by the State Government in compliance of the direction given by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of Hon’ble Supreme Court.
[UNQUOTE]

It is an accepted scientific fact that the minimum numbers required for a population size to be viable is 500. However, in this case, there is one female and a calf in an enclosure. The other wild buffaloes are known to move around the fringe of the human habitations that have come up in the forests and mate with the domestic buffalo. At the earliest, the genetic purity of the last remaining wild buffalos need to be established and immediate steps need to be taken to restore the last remaining wild buffaloes of the Central Indian stock.

In 2005, I had trekked in the Sunabeda Sanctuary in search of Wild Buffalo and had found their fresh hoof marks though I couldn’t have direct sightings. However, in all those areas, where the forester had never set his foot, there were abandoned pens constructed by nomadic tribes for their cattle pens. So even in the deep forests there are chances of breeding between the Wild Buffalo and the domestic one.

A wild buffalo is one of the mega fauna. It is not a small critter that can go unnoticed or tax the imagination of the common man or the scientists. However, despite that a part of the scientific community is excited at the prospect of introducing an alien species, where as a large herbivore is going to be extinct. Is this not a matter of concern? When will our conservation focus come back on track and focus on the real issues?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Baiting Wildlife:
The Leopards of Bera, a thought provoking report by Dipankar Mazumdar regarding baiting leopards with goats for viewing and photographing them up-close.

In this report “The Leopards of Bera”, Dipankar has presented a balanced view and seeks your inputs on the way forward. You can check the report here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5043

Feral Dogs Menace:
We often talk about poaching and habitat loss impacting the population of our wildlife. However, the impact of the feral dogs in villages, cities and countryside are not noticed. Most of the times the Vultures, lose out to these dogs who drive away the vultures and grab the carcasses.

An added dimension to the problem is the pack hunting behaviour displayed by the feral dogs. They chase the cheetals, gazelles etc and hunt them down. This behaviour has been documented from all corners of India such as Keoladeo Ghana in Bharatpur, Bandhavgarh, Point Calimere etc. The problem that gave rise to the “fattening” of the street dogs is due to our improper waste disposal system, courtesy the inefficient and non-existent (at times) Municipal Corporations. And also, due to the misplaced love shown towards the feral dogs by our animal lovers. One of the incidents concerning the feral dogs can be read here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4899

UP to get exclusive force to protect Wildlife:
Hopefully this will turn out to be good news. Read more on this here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4976

Pesticide Kills elephants:
When can we see synthetic pesticides completely replaced by organic ones? It can be done on a war footing at least around our wilderness areas. Else, such deaths of our precious wildlife will continue. To read more about the death of elephants by pesticides, please check the link here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5062

Taskforce for Dugongs:
Hopefully, a piece of good news for dugongs or sea cows. I strongly believe that shelving of the Sethusamudram project will do much more for dugongs than any other effort. For further details read more here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5077

Global forest cover
An interesting forest cover mapping done by NASA is shared by AS Chandrashekaran. For further details read here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5093

Wildlife Photography:
Images shared by our members between 10th Sept – 9th October, 2010 that depict interesting animal behaviour or are just plain beautiful..

Joga Falls by Dr Hari Venkatesh K R
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4985

An evening in Goa by Saurabh Bhatia
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4934

Glory of Colours by Dr. Kalpamoi Kakati
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4859

Small spider with Catch by Satishchandra Ranadive
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5001

Multicolored Moth by Vikram Gupchup
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4948

Tiger Beetles-pair by Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4915

Tahr Mom and Kid by Bibhav Behera:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5093

Lion tailed Macaque by Nikhilesh Mahakur
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4831

Spotted Dear by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5026

Crested Bunting by Amit Kalele
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4919

The link to this Newsletter is available at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-x

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
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Sabyasachi Patra

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IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol 2 Issue VIII

Sabyasachi Patra — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:02:29 +0000

Democracy, Activism and the Power of “WE”

Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address had eloquently outlined the principles on which the edifice of a democracy is built “all men are created equal….and that Government of the people, by the people, for the people…”. It is generally accepted that these principles are not just limited to the United States of America, but also equally applicable to any democracy in the world. So the public is indeed the Government and the elected representatives are their nominees in running the administration on behalf of the people.

Unfortunately, the Governance has become increasingly alienated from the people. The corrupt and the powerful have in many cases usurped the power and have been dictating terms and the people are at the receiving ends. There is a day light robbery of our natural heritage and most of the people choose to turn a blind eye due to the fear of inviting wrath of these unscrupulous criminals.

Of course there are a few people like Amit Jethwa, who had used the Right to Information Act (RTI) to find information about the illegal mining around Gir and had singlehandedly fought against the perpetrators of this crime. Unfortunately, he was felled by their bullets right in front of the Gujarat High Court.

It’s been a month since he was murdered however; the culprits have not been brought to book. Of course some say that there have been more audacious murders – right inside a court premises – I feel debating about the audacity of the crime or the fearlessness of activist or the seeming inability of the police in tracking down the real culprits has sidetracked us from driving important lessons from this tragic incident.

In a country where it takes ages for a case to get heard in various courts, justice is not only delayed, but also throttled if the aggrieved party is unable to pursue it with doggedness. In such a scenario, there are not many people to take on the corrupt and wrongdoers. The unscrupulous criminal elements exploit this reluctance of people and continue with their nefarious deeds. Hence the murder of a fearless activist results in demotivating the already dwindling number of activists.

So what do we do?

Do people stop raising their voice out of fear for their lives? Do we get cowed down and keep quiet when there is loot of our wild heritage?
Obviously not.

Any man, however powerful and courageous he may be, will find it difficult to face a large number of enemies. A lion heavily outnumbered by hyenas is forced to leave the kill. Strength lies in numbers!
It is important for activists to get organized into groups to take on the challenge of the mighty and the corrupt. In the past, I have been threatened of physical assault in the field. In such situations, it is important to not lose your mind, but to immediately look after your physical safety and then plan an alternate approach. One may feel that he/she retreating from the field when challenged is akin to losing a battle. Your ego may be deflated. However, please be reminded that you may lose a battle but the goal is to win the overall war.

There are many persons playing important roles in saving our wilderness areas by working behind the scenes. For them, the satisfaction of seeing the goal come to fruition is more important than public adulation. I have seen lot of youngsters tempted to hog the limelight in print and electronic news channels by using information gleaned through the RTI Act. It may give you two seconds of glory, however anything that is not planned well can hurt you as well as the cause.

Please remember that aggressiveness is a state of mind. It need not be displayed in your physical interactions with the “enemies of biodiversity”. You are all committed individuals. Your life is important. However, I am not asking you to give up your commitment towards preserving the last tracts of vanishing wilderness and wildlife. I am just asking you to change your ways of doing it.

These days it is easy for us to network. Please harness the power of the “we”. Instead of rushing headlong all alone please act as a group. Of course if you want to look like a hero in the eyes of the common man, then it is a different story. I don’t think trying to create a flash in the pan is the right approach. It is important to follow a cause that you believe in and follow it to its logical conclusion.

This was the logic behind establishing the IndiaWilds forums – to nurture and use the power of the “we”. Shri Wajahat Habibullah, Chief Information Commissioner concurred with this view. He told me that it is likely that individual activists will continue to be targeted. The remedy is through social audit of an area or project. Instead of an individual, a group of people can come together and seek a social audit under Section 2-J of the RTI Act. This Social audit can be conducted under media glare and take the corrupt people headlong.
I would like to request all of you to keep the overall goal of preserving the wilderness and wildlife in mind and work towards saving the last tracts of vanishing wilderness areas and wildlife and at the same time look after your safety. After all, getting committed and passionate people is not easy these days.

Wildlife Conservation News from States: The Good, Bad and Ugly
In the recent past, there have been several actions by various forest departments, some good and some not so good and some utterly despicable. Let us examine a few.

Assam:
The Assam forest department has taken a lead in implementing a few noteworthy actions. It has become the first state to arm its force. In a recent notification, the Assam Government has provided immunity to all ranks of forest staff from prosecution for using firearms in discharging their duties. This is a good move as the importance of forests has now been understood and the role of our frontline forest staff is recognized. I hope the next step would be the provision of food and rations for these frontline forest staff. For further details you may check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4539

In another move, the Assam forest department has inducted women into the workforce. Although, I never see this as a move towards gender equality, I think this is good because women who want to get involved in the forest department can now join. When women can undertake the arduous climb to the top of the mighty Himalayas, I am sure they can join as forest guards. In some cases, for people living on the edges of the forests, being a forest guard may be the only job they can get. And depriving someone a job just due to a gender may not be right. I believe with proper training, they can really fit in. With proper safeguards in terms of harassment policies etc, this seems to be a very workable idea. I am happy that Assam is taking a lead in innovative policies. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4536

Madhya Pradesh:
On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh which is popular for the visibility of its tigers in some of its National Parks, has introduced a policy to allow forest guards to take tourists during their patrolling duties in the tiger reserves. This appears to be a case of bowing to the tourism lobby.

As such our forest departments have insufficient staff and most of them are over aged and not physically fit. And on top of it, the level of motivation is often low due to the insufficient salaries, untimely payment of salaries etc. Too often the forest guards are found running errands for their seniors. It is needless to say that our patrolling gets very less preference. In such a situation, if the guard is asked to take tourists, then the patrolling is more or less converted into a trek. It is naturally expected that the guard has to look after the well being of the tourists during such jaunts. It would be good if the tourist oriented trekking schemes and patrolling is kept separated as it is likely to dilute the seriousness of the patrolling duties. No concrete structures should ever be constructed to help in the trekking schemes. If any trekking scheme is conceived, then it has to be based on the carrying capacity of the forest and after careful consideration of its impact. It should not be surreptitiously introduced under the garb of patrolling. Further details on this can be found here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4537

Andhra Pradesh:
The Chief Wildlife Warden of Andhra Pradesh has ordered Wild boars to be culled on the pretext of crop destruction. Further details can be found here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4626

Whether it is the permission to set up captive power plants (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249 ) in ecologically fragile wetlands or proposal to set up memorials in pristine forests of NSRT (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1996 ) or the culling of wild boars, Andhra Pradesh seems to have taken a leadership role in desecrating our sacred biodiversity.

Jumbo in Revenge Attack on Trains:
In an incident that indicates the trauma the elephants would have undergone in seeing trains runover their kith and kin, a lone bull elephant has head butted trains in Gulma forests near Jalpaiguri. Elephants are intelligent creatures and can communicate over long distances. The violent death of elephants under the wheels of a train must have affected not only the elephants in the immediate vicinity, but also elephants who were several kilometers away. Parallels can be drawn from Africa, where adolescent bulls went on the rampage and started killing rhinos. This behaviour was observed after some of the elder members of the herd were culled. It is sad that despite repeated deaths, the railways are not willing to wake up to the reality. In the days of fast train services, creating alternate alignments won’t increase the time duration of the journey.
For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4634

Natures’ Price Tag: An article by Ranbir Mahapatra. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4638

Government Rejects Proposal to split Indian Forest Service:

The Government has rejected the proposal to create a split the Indian forest service and create a separate department for Wildlife. I feel it would be pertinent to share the views of Late Kailash Sankhala on this topic:

“In new India, several new departments have been raised with success to meet the specialized demands of law and order, like the Home Guards, Coast Guards and Border Security Force, and of scientific management in the areas of space, environment, telecommunication, radio and television and many more. It is a pity that Wildlife Reserve Management, which is a specialized job involving the scientific conservation of nature, still continues to be in the hands of woodcutters and exploiters and the proposed department is still being endlessly debated. This is despite the successful demonstration of its functional viability, as an independent organization, by Project Tiger. They seem to enjoy the passion of possession without responsibility and that too by dictat. An Indian Forest Service for Wildlife and Reserves is imperative with its own training programme.”
For further details you may please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4637

Wildlife Photography:

Dhole killing Cheetal fawn by drowning: Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4563

Tiger Cub at Bandhavgarh: Rajiv Gautam
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4399

What do I do with this now: Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4344

Tiger entering water: Atul Dhamankar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4484

Purple rumped subird: Amit Kalele
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4535

Small blue Kingfisher: Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4453

Oriental white eye: AB Apana
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4433

Indian Skipper: Vikram Gupchup
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4363

Lime Butterfly Mudpuddling – Viswanath M K
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4369

Scratchy Croc: Bibhav Behera
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4554

Natural History:
(Members need to login to view it. In case you are a not a member of IndiaWilds then you can register with your full name with a space between first name and last name. Follow this for registration http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php )

Gaur Snorting
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4663

Elephant behaviour before charge
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4664

Look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Twitter: indiawilds
Facebook: indiawilds

Sabyasachi Patra

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IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol.2 Issue VII

Sabyasachi Patra — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:04:24 +0000

IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol 2 Issue VII

It is my pleasure to bring you the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol.2 Issue VII. This issue examines the impact of various infrastructure projects on environment and a way forward. The newsletter is available online at http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-vii and you can also post your views directly in the article.

Infrastructure creation and Conservation:
Recently I was talking with a representative of a foreign investor who is concerned about their investments in power projects that has attracted opposition due to environmental issues. As conservationists fighting against such projects coming up in wetlands or other such ecologically fragile areas, at times one can have a modicum of satisfaction of having stopped an ecologically disastrous project. However, when one hears that several state Governments have agreed to create huge petrochemical complexes and to other so called infrastructure creation in some of the ecologically sensitive places, one realises that it is mostly a losing battle because conservation is seen as anti-development.

The infrastructure bug has bitten us, albeit at the wrong places.
The realization has dawned that India’s economy can accelerate its growth if there is enabling infrastructure in terms of road, power etc. So the Government is sprinting ahead in a missionary zeal in setting up mega infrastructure creation; creating roads by cutting across pristine forests instead of finding alternate alignments, setting up polluting thermal power plants in wetlands, hydel power plants in pristine forests etc. We need to realise that “BIG” is not always the better solution. A simple alternate solution could have sufficed for a major part of our problems. However, big is eye catching and hence those big solutions, inspite of their adverse ecological impact are pushed through in the name of development.

Power:
As an emerging economy, we are power hungry and are guzzling energy like a monster. There is an increased demand for energy with each passing day. Obviously, the planners will thing of augmenting the total power generation capacity. You may consider it to be a right decision, unless you notice that this is akin to a leaking ship. The planners obviously are trying to remove water that is entering into the leaking ship without thinking of plugging the ship. For example, the electricity transmission and distribution suffers from 30 percent losses. At an installed base of 180,000 Megawatts power generation capacity, the losses amount to 60,000 MW. This means, 15 Ultra Mega power project of 4000 MW size. When you look at the details of one of those being set up near Telineelapuram at the ecologically fragile Naupada swamps, (for further details you can check here http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249 ) you can realise how many thousands of acres of land and biodiversity we can save. My further thoughts of Energy efficiency and Green Power can be found here: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/energy-efficiency-green-power

Apart from plugging the leaking ship ie. increasing the efficiencies and reducing power losses, we should actively look at harnessing Solar power. Though I have been talking about this often, I was surprised to see the work being done in Botswana. As readers of this newsletter may recall, I have been studying the conservation best practices in African national parks and countries. In IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol 2 Issue IV ( http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-iv ) , I had talked about ecotourism best practice in Botswana. Little did I realise, that we can also learn from Botswana regarding deployment of alternative energy.

Solar Power initiative of Botswana Power Corporation:
The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), which is a national electricity utility, has been providing solar energy services to Botswana’s rural citizens. Solar lanterns, wood-saving stoves, hot bags that keep the food warm etc are some notable efforts that are being undertaken. I have often been saying that wiring up remote villages leads to huge transmission losses and is costly. This cost of wheeling power over long distances is not reflected in the cost of the power. When one considers this, solar energy becomes competitive in terms of cost. It would be good if the Government through suitable legislation helps in adoption of solar power and other renewable energy sources so that the dependence on the inefficient thermal power as well as huge hydroelectricity projects is reduced.

Green SEZs:
In a small effort towards green power, the Ministry of Commerce in its Draft Guidelines for Green SEZs (Special Economic Zones) issued in July 2009, has mentioned that 2% of total estimated energy consumption for each zone or 5KW/hectare, whichever is lower, must be generated through solar or other renewable energy. Over a period of 10 years, the solar/other forms of renewable energy must be extended from 2% to a minimum of 20% of total estimated energy consumption or 50KW/hectare whichever is lower. Though these are still in the draft guidelines stage even after a year, I am hopeful that the usage of Solar and alternate energy can be increased in industries as well as at homes there by reducing the need for huge infrastructure creation with its associated problems both interms of ecological footprint as well as cultural impact.

Continuous Green patch in SEZs and Industrial Areas:
Given that the industrialization is only going to increase in future, a few change in rules can help in creating micro habitats for our wildlife. At the moment, the Special Economic zones need to maintain 25% area as green area. Unfortunately, due to the lack of a suitable definition, playgrounds, pathways, lawns with artificial Korean grass etc are referred to as green areas. Also, the area earmarked as green areas are not contiguous and hence doesn’t help in serving as habitat for wildlife. Ofcourse, I am not visualizing megafauna to reside in these industrial complexes, especially after a venerable institute like the Wildlife Institute of India setting fire on the vegetation to drive away a leopard (for details read here http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4104 ), I am sure that this place can serve as a habitat for avifauna, butterflies and bees as well as a few less glamorous species if there is sufficient space for them. So a regulation to ensure that the 25% of area to be maintained as a continuous patch of green area would serve the purpose. A back of the envelope calculation tells me that the total area of SEZs in this country stands at 43430 hectares and 25% of this amounts to 10857 hectares of green area.

Indigenous Species:
Another issue that is not given due importance is the need to promote native species instead of planting exotic species. During my formative years, when I was too young to understand what an exotic species means, I had read that the noted naturalist Shri M. Krishnan was against Gulmohur trees as it is not an indigenous species. A few years back, I was shocked when one of the large global NGOs working in this country suggested planting of Lantana (Lantana camara) in SEZs to create suitable habitat for birds. I am sure it is time to generate awareness about promoting indigenous species and maintaining a habitat suitable to the geography. I wish some of our knowledgeable researchers and conservationists can come forward in creating a checklist of species native to each State and district. We can then try to sensitise industry as well as the Government in amending the green guidelines.

Together with the rule for creating continuous patch of green area and ensuring no exotic species, we can thus win small battles, though we are losing the greater war. That will continue unless the current economic modeling incorporates green economics.

Damning a River!
The environmental impact of big dams on rivers is well known.
India is blessed with a large number of perennial rivers. So the dams appear as an attractive proposition to solve our power and water needs. However, the environmental impact of big dams is well known. Huge chunks of pristine forests are submerged due to our dams. And after a few years, our dams lose their carrying capacity due to heavy siltation. Naturally, the generation of hydel power reduces. This problem is accentuated, when there is more of destruction of forests in the upstream. Unfortunately, our planners fail to take these into their calculations.

There is ofcourse a compensation amount given to people who are directly impacted. However, due to lack of understanding and studies, we don’t know the impact on others.

When a river is dammed (read damned), in many cases it changes the lives of people irreversibly. Perennial rivers dry up and become seasonal, impacting not only the lives of fishermen but also agriculture as the flood plains are starved of nutrients and the ground water is not recharged. It is also a fact that, the drying up of rivers leads to salt water intrusion and increased salinity. And in a country where the rivers are worshiped as Goddesses, the drying up of a river has a cultural impact on people. The planners fail to notice the impact on the people living downstream.

Similarly, we don’t realise the impact on flora and fauna. Dams come across as a major barrier in stopping migration of aquatic species. Some even move towards extirpation/extinction. However, there are no champions for them. And the salinity level increases near the delta region, has its impact on the wildlife too. There have been recent reports of the tigers in Sunderbans moving north due to the increase in salinity. You can now realise, it is not just an issue of getting several megawatts of power or irrigating several hundred acres of land near a dam. The impact is much more profound.

Please check here for a detailed impact assessment of one of the projects (Pancheswar Dam http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4334 ) and also to raise your voice against it. The document prepared by Dr. Mark Everard a leading expert in wetlands is certainly going to help in increasing knowledge.

In another case, the committee of ministers headed by Shri Pranab Mukherjee has given a go ahead to the Loharinag Pala hydroelectric project, on the specious reason that money has already been sunk in the project and contracts awarded. For further details please check here ( http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4360 )
Unless, we quickly move in to tap alternate energy resources, we will continue to build such huge hydel power projects, thermal power projects etc with their associated ill effects on the environment. The relentless march of so called development or infrastructure creation will continue, unless we push for a better, simpler and non polluting solution.

Golden Dream:
In response to my previous newsletter, (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-vi ) several conservationists had urged me not to lose hope and I had promised to try to glean learnings from our failures. So the question arises, what do we do now?

The answer in short is, Dream Big.

When our former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee had announced the Golden Quadrilateral – the four-laning of roads connecting the four metro cities – and the East-West and North-South corridors, it was branded as too grandiose a dream by his friends and foes alike. Today, everyone realises the power of that dream. In that backdrop, what stops us from dreaming big?

The way Shri Vajpayeeji had dreamt of creating roads for the human species, why can’t we dream of creating roads (read corridors) for the animal species? Why can’t we dream of creating corridors to establish linkages between all our National Parks and wilderness areas. Today, our tiger reserves and national parks are like jewels. Any lay man can vouch for the fact that the value of those jewels are enhanced when the jewels are strung together to create a necklace.

Can we dream of creating such a beautiful necklace with our tiger reserves and national parks connected by corridors? The costs may be to the order of a couple of hundred thousand crores, and there would be sceptics. Remember, when the road building activity started, nobody realised the impact. Only later, the positive impact on the industries like cement, steel etc was realised, and the impact on job creation, lowering transportation costs, linking village economies with the urban economies etc were realised. Similarly, linking our tiger reserves and national parks, will help in securing first and foremost our fresh water resources, help in carbon sequestration, enhancing genetic diversity of our wildlife etc. It will also help us in reining in the climate change, which is going to hit us hard if adequate measures are not taken. The farmers and the poor are the most vulnerable, and if we as a nation are concerned about our farmers and the poor, then we should take such steps.

Now we have to find out who is going to be the so called Mungeri Lal to dream such haseen sapne (golden dreams). I hope we can find a way to sell this dream to a person who wields considerable influence like Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. The tiger earlier had a strong champion in Mrs. Indira Gandhi, our former Prime Minister. Will her daughter-in-law who has proved herself as a successful leader, can lead us towards such a golden dream?

I have a prayer in my lips hoping this linking of the wilderness areas – the true India – comes to fruition in my lifetime.

Conservation:
You may check the following discussions in the conservation section of IndiaWilds forums:
Critically endangered Fish:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4336

Man in the Life of a Snake:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4328

Leopard illegally caged in Aravalis:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4380

Rally in wildlife sanctuary kills deer:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4322

Wildlife Photography:
Every month we highlight a few images for their aesthetic abilities, natural history importance or for increasing our knowledge of a little known species from a particular habitat. Please check the following links to access the images.

The green predator by Dr Hari Venkatesh K R
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4206

Gir Lion by Atul Dhamankar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4284

Tusker from Kabini by Vishwanath M K
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4267

Slender Loris rescued by Akshay Kumar Manjunath
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4313

Black buck from Maidenahalli by Subramanya CK
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4309

Blackbuck from Betanai, Orissa by Satyabrata Mishra
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4310

Tiger Cub, Siddhababa, Bandhavgarh by Anup Ranadive
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4225

Pied Kingfisher from Ranganathittu by Mrudul
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4329

Grey Heron from Mangalajodi, Orissa by Satyabrata Mishra
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4307

Indian Courser by Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4218

Seashore in Ratnagiri in November by Vishal Bhave
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4193

Sunset at Redi, Konkan by Amit Paralikar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4140

The link to this Newsletter is available at:

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Blog: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Twitter: indiawilds
Facebook: indiawilds

Sabyasachi Patra

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IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue VI

Sabyasachi Patra — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:23:11 +0000

IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue VI

Why conservation has failed in this country?

I have often heard people bemoaning that India is still known for elephants or snake charmers rather than its prowess in IT, telecom etc. People feel ashamed being asked about tigers or elephants and try to justify that they stay in modern cities far removed from forests. They fail to fathom the rich treasures nature has bestowed on us. They fail to appreciate that the tigers and elephants of this land are deeply ingrained in our culture. I won’t blame people, because they have not been taught to appreciate these. Whose fault is it?

Conservationsists! Pat came the answer from my friend.

If it is the responsibility of the conservationists, then where are they?
Well, however hard I tried to think, I could not find conservationists. Various names of people, NGOs etc started flooding my mind and I started eliminating one by one.

I thought of tour operators as they call themselves conservationists. What brand of conservation do they engage in? I could not remember a tourism operator, hotelier, agent etc nurturing and bringing to life a wilderness area. They follow successful conservation efforts like the way a wildeebeast follows rains during its migration. They will flock to a park after sightings of the megafauna increases. They talk of conservation solely to maximise their profits through tourism. So each tiger is valued according to the revenue potential. They place the interests of their clients over wildlife or wilderness areas. In one case, a big and reputed tourism operator used to take their clients to a spot in the night where a tigress used to cross the road with her cubs. The jostling for prime position had extended from the day to night time as well. After a few days, the tigress had enough and she changed her timings forcing all the tour operators – big and small – to stop.

Wildlife Photographers: Moving from one National Park to another, these wildlife photographers click or “shoot” as they call it wildlife. Ofcourse they bring joy to themselves and to others who watch the photos of magnificent wildlife; they never utter a word to save or conserve wilderness areas or wildlife. A recent case in the point is the death of a tigress in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve; who jostled with each other to photograph her, irritate her by blocking her road and hence forcing her to snarl. When she was run over by a vehicle inside the reserve, the silence among the photographers was deafening.

A part of me is a wildlife photographer. I have clicked many photos of this tigress without stressing her. However, I have been repeatedly asking myself if I have done my duty in raising my voice and helping nab the culprits. My personal views on this incident can be found here (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/bandhavgarh-tigress-runover-by-jeep).

There are too many gory tales of wildlife photographers trying to get a photo at the cost of seriously distressing wildlife, from pulling out a snake from the hole in the ground for photographing it, to destroying the nest of an endangered raptor so that others can’t photograph it…the list is pretty long and shocking. For wildlife photographers, Conservation is definitely not the claim to fame.

NGOs: On the surface they appear to be the ones championing the cause of wildlife. A closer look, and you will realise that 99% of the NGOs are created for making money. This doesn’t mean that no one is working for wildlife. The rest 1% may be divided between the small and the big players.

The well meaning smaller NGOs are mostly fighting a loser’s battle due to lack of resources or ideas or both. Some of the large NGOs are focused primarily on creating infrastructure like schools, hospitals etc inside the wilderness areas rather than thinking about the wilderness area. There are a few who are focused on tracking and prosecuting wildlife trafficking. Successful prosecution can act as a big deterrent. However, there are instances when agents in the guise of traders are helping in creating a pseudo demand and that leads to killing of endangered species. And there are some others who feel that only awareness creation is conservation. And to make matters worse, each thinks that only their work is good.

Researchers: Our wildlife researchers are supposed to be at the forefront of research and the common man is often in awe hearing some of the esoteric techniques used in conservation. The information obtained from their research is at times very important and influences our approach towards conservation. Does that make them true conservationists?

A recent incident in the Wildlife Institute of India, where the authorities set fire to trees to ward away a leopard coming into the campus to drink water shows that there is a huge gap between what they preach and practice. (For further details you may check here http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4104 ). This may have been the most muddle headed and unfortunate incident; however, this is not just an isolated incident. There are too many reports of reputed researchers championing the cause of research or infrastructure projects ruining our wilderness places. Similarly, there are no dearth of researchers who have bought land or taken land as grant from the Government and unwilling to part with it even though wildlife migratory corridors are getting affected.

Among the young breed of research scholars, often use of a new technique or tool is the primary focus. Every animal is viewed as a potential opportunity to employ an invasive technique, which often defies logic. Often the primary goal is just a research paper, PhD degree etc but not conservation. I wish there is a holistic perspective, transparency and collaboration so that researchers don’t end up investigating the same hypothesis in different parts of the country.

George Schaller, perhaps one of the greatest naturalists of the 20th century, in an interview to Data Quest magazine had said: “Field biologists, such as Karanth and Chundawat, can use technology in the form of satellite radio-collars, camera-traps, DNA analysis of scats and other techniques to determine population size, movement patterns, and other aspects. That provides extremely valuable information. Such knowledge is essential for conservation but it is not conservation. Conservation, in the final analysis, is culture, economics and politics,”

Culture, economics and politics! I guess we are now back to square one. It’s better to leave this exercise of finding a conservationist to another day.

Of course, there is always an exception in life. A number of you are among those exceptions, and I am sure you all will agree that there is a need to bring a change in our approach to conservation.

Another Tiger Death and the State of affairs of Wildlife in the Madhya Pradesh:

The Nation was rocked by the news that the Jhurjhura tigresses has been runover by a vehicle in the Bandhavgarh tiger reserve. Initially a tourist vehicle was blamed. Later on it emerged that the forest department was trying its best to shift the blame on the tourists. Unconfirmed reports from locals as well as media suggest the involvement of a Madhya Pradesh minister’s relative. Only three junior officials have been suspended. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) report has suggested a CBI enquiry to uncover the truth. To learn more details about the incident and to raise your voice you may check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3942

It would be good of you, if you too can raise your voice asking for a CBI enquiry to be conducted to unravel the truth.

Reward for wiping out tigers in Panna:
Public memory is short. However, it is not too short to forget the wiping out of tigers in Panna Tiger Reserve. Despite Dr. Raghu Chudawat – who was engaged in research in Panna – raising his voice about the dangers afflicting Panna, the Tiger Reserve authorities led by Field director Dr H S Pabla kept on insisting that all was well in Panna. Finally, when truth came out that the tiger population in Panna has been wiped out; the concerned officers were shifted out. Now Dr. H S Pabla – who can be termed as an accomplice in the crime, as he resisted all attempts to save Panna’s tigers – has been rewarded with the role of Principal Chief Conservator (Forests). For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4119

Looking at these two incidents, one wonders whether the Madhya Pradesh Government is indeed serious about protecting tigers and wildlife. It may be pertinent to mention that Madhya Pradesh was the last State to sign the tripartite MoU with centre and NTCA (for details check here http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2323 ) and only did so after a lot of effort and campaigns. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is ruling the state of Madhya Pradesh, calls itself the party with a difference. Is this how it is making a difference?

I am sure many of you would like to ask this question to the Hon’ble CM of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan and the BJP party Chief Shri Nitin Gadkari.

Conservation:
Some of the other key discussions in IndiaWilds:
A report about threats to Melagiri forests:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3985

Sunderbans: Losing battle?
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4084

Ecotourism a Forestry Activity or Non-forestry activity?
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4102

Some good news from Kudremukh:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3717

Human safaris endanger Jarawas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4195

Wildlife Photography:
Every month we highlight a few images for their aesthetic abilities, natural history importance or for increasing our knowledge of a little known species. Please check the following links to access the images.

White throated Fantail by AB Apana
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3923

Cormorant by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3971

Injustice by Neil Mehta (Image of one of the orphaned cubs of Jhurjhura tigress)
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4091

Yawning by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3893

Dudhwa Rhino’s by Bibhav Behera
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3907

The moving starts, in a starry night by Jatinder Sawhney
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4063

Reflections in Hunder by Nikhilesh Mahakur
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4021

Olive Ridley Turtle egg laying by Nikhilesh Mahakur
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4067

Antlion of Anamalai by Mohan Raj
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3998

Greenish Chamelion by V S Sankar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3951

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Sabyasachi Patra

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IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue IV

Sabyasachi Patra — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 11:00:05 +0000

IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue IV

I believe it is a good idea to do benchmarking; after all, life is all about change for the better. In the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue XI (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-1-issue-xi), I had done a comparison between wildlife sanctuaries in India and Africa focusing on the size. Continuing with the efforts in analyzing best practices from Africa, in this edition we focus on eco-tourism.

Ecotourism:
Ecotourism is a much reviled concept in India. Most often the word is used liberally and twisted to suit the needs of different groups like forest department, NGOs, settlers in a wilderness area etc.

IUCN has defined ecotourism, as “environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy, study and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features – both past and present), that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations”.

Ecotourism has got different degrees of success around the world. Like any other tool, it has its own limitations and is definitely not the panacea of all ills afflicting our wilderness areas. Let us look at ecotourism as it is practiced or preached in India.

Do we have an ecotourism strategy? What do we expect from ecotourism? Have we done any objective setting for ecotourism in India?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. The sporadic efforts of some genuinely interested individuals and groups may have resulted in a few so called “successful” ecotourism operations. However, as a country we are groping in the dark.

In sharp contrast Botswana, one of the poorest countries in Africa (as far as measurement of economy in the traditional method is concerned) has defined its ecotourism strategy and objectives. It would be pertinent to mention that Botswana has got 37% (thirty seven percent) of its landmass in National Parks, Nature Reserves and Wildlife Management Areas. Ecotourism objectives of Botswana:

Minimizing negative social, cultural and environmental impacts.
Maximizing the involvement in, and the equitable distribution of economic benefits to, host communities.
Maximizing revenues for re-investment in conservation.
Educating both visitors and local people as to the importance of conserving natural and cultural resources
Delivering a quality experience for tourists

Where do we stand if we analyse ourselves with a similar set of objectives?

How environment friendly is our ecotourism?
There are too many groups to talk about social and cultural impact. I would limit my observations to the environmental impact.

Do we use energy and water conservation technologies to save our precious resources?
Do we use local design and construction methods?
Do we practice responsible waste management measures?
How do we eliminate hazardous materials, pesticides, phosphate based cleaners, solvents, Volatile organic compounds etc?
Do we assess life-cycle environmental impacts of all building materials and purchases associated with ongoing operations and maintenance
Fresh food purchased locally?

The answer is obviously in the negative for the above points except for a few resorts purchasing some of their vegetables locally. The reasons are many and some of those are structural issues.

Priority areas:
In Okavango for example, they have an Okavango Core Tourism Development Area where low volume, low intensity and high value tourism is planned. In the areas bordering the Core Tourism Development Area, the volume and intensity of tourism allowed is higher. So their ecologically fragile areas don’t have to bear the vagaries of mass tourism. Unfortunately, in our case, there is very little differentiation of our areas with respect to tourism. The core areas are virtually inviolate to tourists, except for people who surreptitiously sneak in with the help of forest department officials. So everybody strives to flock to the Tala zone in Bandhavgarh and not to the other areas. Earlier it was free for all, but now the number of vehicles allowed into the 100 sq. kilometers of Tala zone is capped at 50 ie. about one vehicle every 2 square kilometers. So a naturalist or serious wildlife photographer has to literally jostle for space with an individual – liberally doused with perfume – who cannot distinguish between a gaur and a rhino.

They are conscious about the impact of tourism support infrastructure that comes up in an area. Unfortunately, we are not. So a Tala village in Bandhavgarh National Park, from 6 families has now grown into a small township. Same is the case with Ramanagar near Corbett National Park to name a few examples. A number of such examples abound.

In Botswana, the ecotourism operator needs to be registered and follow all the laws of the land. Same is the case in Malaysia where a tour guide has a license and an identity card. That helps in ensuring quality of service. In India, anyone can proclaim himself to be an expert and offer his services. For example, a tour operator who ran over a tiger cub, was running a hotel without naming it so.

In Botswana, the eco tourism operator must demonstrate that responsible professionals have performed the EIA (Environment Impact analysis). In India, EIA for projects involving industries, dams, canals, roads etc is a joke. So I am not sure how seriously EIA can be done for ecotourism. The Uttarakhand Government has now announced that new hotels will only be allowed to be set up near Corbett after due diligence. We must understand that once a resort, hotel etc comes up in an ecologically fragile place, the loss would be irreversible. Rare species of plants, animals, and insects can be locally exterminated, and landscape altered forever.

Community Participation:

One of the theoretical benefits of ecotourism, is to maximize the involvement of communities in ecotourism and the equitable distribution of economic benefits. Unfortunately, apart from menial jobs, the local communities have very less role to play in the ecotourism as it is practiced today in India.

It is obvious that the traditional communities won’t be always in sync with the expectations of the tourists and the best practices worldwide. Cooperatives should be formed by traditional communities and Tour operators with experience can get into management contracts with them. The traditional communities, knowledgeable in jungle craft can put their knowledge to good use. The others – not versed in the jungle craft -can get gainful employment in the ecotourism sector with some training. This would help in the traditional communities living in the periphery of the wilderness areas (after resettlement from the core areas) to value the wilderness areas better.

The tourism enterprise should purchase groceries, fruits, vegetables etc if locally available. However, this should not induce local communities to clear up forest areas for cultivation. That is the tourism should not lead to mushrooming of tourism support infrastructure and increase in environmental footprint. One third of India’s forest areas have been encroached in the last two decades. For further details you need to check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3539

It is imperative that the Government comes up with an adequate legislation and detailed guidelines to regulate tourism to not only protect our wilderness places from devastation, but also ensure equitable distribution of the gains. The following needs to be ensured:

Ecotourism Operators: Everybody wants to jump into ecotourism. Due diligence should be carried out before allowing any groups or individuals to set up resorts in sensitive areas. The individuals, groups, organizations entering into this field should show their commitment to recruit the right kind of resources, adopt best practices etc. It is difficult for these individuals or groups to learn and adopt the best practices from worldwide. So the Government may help them in enriching their knowledge from time to time by creating a best practices compendium, organizing seminars etc.
Where: our tourism operators are crowded around a few places. In the absence of any legislation, our tourism operators will only move to well established areas. It is perhaps human nature that people will only pick up the low hanging fruit first. For example, when CC Africa (a group well known for its ecotourism practices in Africa) set up its operations in India along with Taj (India’s one of the top most ethical organization); they set up their operations in well known areas like Kanha, Bandhavgarh etc instead of venturing into little known places. In sharp contrast, Jungle Lodges, a unit of Govt. of Karnataka’s Tourism Department, popularized BR Hills as a wildlife destination after setting up their resort in a relatively unknown place like K Gudi. New areas should be identified, the carrying capacity measured and tourist operators invited to set up their services in a controlled manner.

How:

EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) done by reputed professionals and open to public scrutiny. There should be annual Environment Impact Assessment of the resort.
Local construction materials used. The design should be in sync with the landscape. The construction should be based on the local conditions like weather, fragile environment, water scarcity etc. Brick-and-mortar resorts should be avoided in environmentally sensitive areas.
A cradle to grave approach should be used to monitor the entire lifecycle of all materials used in construction.
The resort should have a knowledgeable ecologist/ naturalist as part of the team.
Traditional crafts and culture should be promoted.
In case the land is already degraded, the resort should take action to restore it along with its original vegetation.
The Government should create a list of plants and trees in each area and make it mandatory for the resorts to adhere to it. The ecotourism site should be landscaped with vegetation native to that area.
Air-conditioners go against the grain of Ecotourism. The use of local materials, natural ventilation and local trees shading the cottages would help in removing the requirement of air conditioners.
Light pollution should be minimized by designing appropriate lighting.
Energy conservation should be prioritized. Renewable energy, especially solar energy should be used in the ecotourism facilities. The Government should provide adequate subsidies. A monitoring mechanism should be set up. Solar panels should be used for both, heat water as well as generate electricity for select appliances such as fans, lights, and kitchen equipment, water heating etc. Occupancy sensors should be used to cut down on unnecessary electricity consumption.
It is estimated that approximately 30% water use in resorts is used for toilet flushing. Low flush toilets should be used to cut down on the water requirements.
All cleaners, polishes and pesticide must be biodegradable, noncorrosive, non toxic and phosphate-free.
All buildings should be connected by raised walkways to prevent vegetation from being trampled. Ground cover and other plant and animal life continues to flourish underneath the raised walkways and tent-cabins, and the trees and vegetation whose lives we spared return the favor by protecting us and our guests from the hot tropical sun. A similar structure is present in the White Tiger Lodge in Bandhavgarh.

Conservation:
Oil spill threatens Olive Ridley Turtles Orissa
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3653
This is the second oil spill in Orissa coast in the last few months. First it was from the Mongolian ship in Paradip Port and now from the Essar Oil ship in Gopalpur port. It doesn’t require crystal gazing to know that oil spill can happen from the proposed port at Dhamra in the coast of Orissa and wipe out olive ridley turtles in Gahirmatha beach.

93% of Wild medicinal plants in endangered list
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3589

Wilderness Updates:
Forest guard dies in hunter’s attack in Thamarassery:
Please spare a thought to the challenges faced by our forest guards, frontline warriors protecting our wilderness areas.
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3570

Free flow for Bhagirathi as Government shelves two dams:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3520

Wildlife Photography
Some of the fine natural history moments recorded by our members:
Pair by Praveen P Mohandas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3417
Tigress Yawning by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3504
Happy Family by Praveen P Mohandas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3416
Orange Headed Thrush by Amit Kalele
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3578
A wall of water by Mrudul Godbole
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3450
Is it effect of global warming by Mahesh Trivedi
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3463
Ghost of the Darkness by Nikhilesh Mahakur
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3461

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Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
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Sabyasachi Patra

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