Prerna Singh
Bindra is fascinated by wildlife, right from the Asiatic elephant to the dragonfly. “Every year,
dragonflies migrate thousands of kilometres across the sea. It is so
fascinating to learn about the nature of these animals,” says Prerna. A
passionate wildlife author and activist, Prerna has dedicated decades of her
life to the conservation and preservation of wildlife and the environment. She
has authored ‘King and I: Travels in Tigerland’ and edited ‘Voices in the
Wilderness: Contemporary Wildlife Writings’.
Her latest book, ‘The Vanishing - India’s Wildlife Crisis’,
comprises a lifetime’s work. “I have been working on the research for this book
for so many years, with my travels to the remotest parts of India. The process
of writing the book took me one year and it was both, fascinating and
frustrating. I had so much to write that I was adding information till the last
moment. I wanted the book to be easily understandable; though it would be
scientific, I wanted it to reach the average reader,” explains Prerna, who will
be back in Goa in December for the Goa Arts and Literature Festival.
Every day, species
are coming closer to extinction; this could be due to taking away their natural
habitat, climatic change due to global warming and even hunting. Through the
book, Prerna gives an eye witness account of India’s vanishing natural
treasure, without losing focus of Goa. “Goa’s rapidly growing real estate
industry and tourism is affecting the wildlife and the social fabric of life. I
have been to villages in Goa where the people are still traditionally rooted to
their land and Goa has a vibrant civil society. I visited the Barazan plateau,
site of the proposed Mopa airport, from which 40 streams flow, leaving the soil
fertile for agriculture. The farmers there will lose their livelihood when
their water and soil will get affected because of the airport,” she explains.
“Goa is a small state
yet there is a kind of mad development taking place. While tourism can be a
great tool to a stable economy, it is a double-edged sword as it comes with its
negatives, such as garbage and even destruction of mangroves. Goa is set to be
a coal hub where the rivers of Goa, including Mandovi, are proposed to be
national waterways. Great civilisations have sustained on river banks and
civilisations have been destroyed by the death of the rivers,” she adds.
Speaking about
hunting and poaching, Prerna says, “Pangolins are relentlessly killed for their
scales and meat, elephants for their tusks, and in Goa, the bull frog is known
as the jumping chicken. Firstly, the forest staff in India is short-staffed by
30 per cent, while national reserves are over 90 per cent short-staffed.
Secondly, the forest staff is not trained to deal with wildlife crimes that are
actually on par with the black market of arms and narcotics. The forest staff
is not equipped and don’t understand the gravity of the crime. Laws which are
meant to protect the wildlife and environment are diluted.”
However
when it comes to conservation, India is amongst the forerunners. “India has the
maximum number of tigers and Asiatic elephants and over 80 per cent of the
world population of Gangetic dolphin are in India. New species which were not
scientifically identified have also been found in India recently,” concludes
Prerna optimistically