Isolation no solution

The Hindu , Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Correspondent : S. RAVI
Rita Banerji’s two award-winning films make a case for community effort required for environmental protection

With climate change, global warming, green house effect, deforestation, extinction of several species and many other manifestations of environmental degradation looming large, a wake up call has been sounded by nations across the world. The limiting and reversal of degradation cannot be pursued only through protocols and enactment of international and national laws and their implementation. A definite and important component of the initiative is people’s involvement at the grassroot level, and our own Chipko movement is a classic example of this.

Rita Banerji’s two short films, Flight To Freedom – The Amur Falcon Story and Turtle Diaries – The Olive Ridley Turtle , recently awarded the Indian Wildlife Conservation Jury Special Award and Indian Films for Children category at the 8th CMS Vatavaran, bring out the crucial role played by locals in ecological conservation.

There are very few places in India providing exclusive protection to wildlife, and many designated areas for animals and birds are shared by the indigenous communities who live off the forest, like North-East India and the Western ghats. “The fast-disappearing forest habitats make it imperative to involve the community to save whatever is left. I feel conservation has to be tackled holistically and not in isolation by the government, law, justice or community. The need of the hour is dialogue and close working between all the stakeholders,” says Rita. She stresses that animal habitats and communities are interdependent and it is imminent to save both.

Amur falcon, a small raptor and insectivore, breeds in Siberia and northern China and migrates in flocks to southern Africa in winter via India and the Arabian Sea, where it makes a short stopover. However, the halt at the Doyang River in Wokha district of Nagaland proved disastrous for them as they were trapped to be sold as pets and were hunted for meat.

On becoming aware of this, Ramki Sreenivasan, Conservation India, Shashank Dalvi, Centre for Wildlife Studies, and Bano Haralu, Nagaland Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Trust, studied and discovered to their horror that between 1.2 and 1.4 lakh birds were caught during the migration season. Rita was asked to document the hunting, the findings and the subsequent efforts to mitigate the suffering of the birds, resulting in the documentary.

Even though the bird hunting was banned, it was realised that many involved were unaware of the impact of their actions on wildlife, environment and agricultural practices, and engaged in this illegal vocation due to unemployment. In the film, an ex-hunter-turned-trainer, Chambemo, says he was forced to hunt to earn a living and pleads ignorance about the importance of the bird and its role in ecology.

Comprehending that the killing was stemming out of some basic needs but largely out of ignorance, started the Amur Falcon education initiative encompassing workshops for all, distribution of booklets on the subject, manuals, organisation of various activities like drawing, sports, marathon run, etc. emphasising the importance of the benefits flowing from conservation. “Convinced after attending the sessions, the kids went on to discourage their parents from hunting, cooking and eating meat,” reveals Chambemo.

The film shows how sustained effort paid dividends with no birds hunted since 2013. Says Rita: “The documentary made primarily for creating awareness makes a good story example of the importance of communities working for conservation.”

 
SOURCE : http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/isolation-no-solution/article7959022.ece
 


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