Environmentalist wins Green Oscar

The Times of India , Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Correspondent : TNN
PUNE: City-based ornithologist Pramod Patil has been conferred the prestigious Whitley Award, popularly called the 'Green Oscar', for his work on the conservation of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard.

Patil was among seven conservationists who were conferred the award worth £35,000 at a ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society, London last week. The award is presented by The William Brake Charitable Trust.

Among those present were renowned nature filmmaker David Attenborough. Another Indian, Ananda Kumar, who has worked on elephant conservation, was also an awardee.

Patil is a physician by training and it was only after his first sighting of a Great Indian Bustard in 2003, that he decided to give up a career in medicine and work for the conservation of the rare bird.

"It is really sad that the species that was abundantly found in grasslands across the sub-continent has been edged out of 90% of its habitat," Patil said.

He pointed out that not only has the species fared poorly because grasslands are often thought of a wastelands, but poor planning and failure to involve the local community has resulted in the Great Indian Bustard disappearing from several protected areas.

Poaching and habitat loss from livestock grazing and agricultural encroachment have also contributed to its decline.

"Saving pockets of grasslands here and there will not save the species, nor serve the community, and so we need a landscape-level of thinking," he added.

Most of Patil's work is focused on the Thar desert, where the largest remaining population of the bird is found. He plans to use the project funding that accompanies the award for capacity building of the forest department to tackle poaching and set up anti-poaching teams by involving locals.

He also wants to establish a participatory network to gather information on status, range and threats to the bird and shore up awareness programmes.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Environmentalist-wins-Green-Oscar/articleshow/47167470.cms
 


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