Chat Archives

Chat on "Wildlife Issues in the North -East of India" dated April 18, 2011 Susan Sharma: Welcome to IWC chat on Wildlife issues in the North Ease of India Susan Sharma: Our moderator today is Rita Banerji Susan Sharma: Hi Rita rita: Hi Susan, thanks for inviting me to the chat Susan Sharma: You can give an intro till others join in rita: Ok to give a background in brief, we have been working in the northeast since 2002 rita: on wildlife conservation issues rita: The film 'The Wild Meat Trail' was a result of filming in that area for all these years rita: And it mainly looks at hunting of wild animals by indigenous communities for food and for sale rita: and whether it has a significant impact on the wildlife there Susan Sharma: Wild life hunting and poaching is one of the major issues there, you would say rita: Illegal wildlife trade across international borders is a much larger problem rita: and its all across India and other parts of the world, rita: We were looking at the extent of impact of traditional hunting Susan Sharma: Do th elocal people help in this trade for earning some money? rita: Yes in some instances we did get information on sale of bear gall bladder to traders rita: bear bile sells for quite a sium in the international market rita: right now if you look at the northeast forests - there is still a lot of wildlife left Susan Sharma: I believe you are still working in the area trying to create awareness about conservation issues rita: but conservation action has to be initiated with a sense of urgency to save it rita: Yes along with the film we had an education outreach program " Under the Canopy' rita: A wildlife educationist friend of mine Payal Molur came on board for that rita: It was training the trainers program in Ngaland and Assam, and now that has expanded into a rita: three year program with kids in Chizami Village Nagaland rita: And Eco Club. This is in collaboration with Northeast Netwrok rita: and NGO working in the northeast Susan Sharma: do you also run an NGO there? rita: No. We work in collaboration with NGO's. rita: Have you een to the northeast Susan Sharma: Are pople open to education programs in general? rita: Till now our interactions with the communities have been really encouraging Susan Sharma: I have not. Would love to one day rita: many of the places are quite remote and they are happy when people visit rita: Community decisions are taken quite seriously, village councils are strong Susan Sharma: I am surprised at the poor turn out in the chat room. I thought we will have many people rita: So in some communities where the village council has decided to ban hunting , it has been quite successful rita: I guess monday evening.... rita: :) rita: do u have it every monday? Susan Sharma: Every 18th date is fixed. rita: okay Susan Sharma: Once I close the room, the transcript is uploaded automatically. rita: okay.... Susan Sharma: So people can read it afterwards. rita: okay...thats good... Susan Sharma: Tell about some anecdotes you remember while filming. rita: I guess the whole experience has been quite amazing....we have spent days camping int eh forest rita: getting lost in the dark, our jeep getting stuck in the middle of the river.... rita: Some of the best times have been in the villages.. Susan Sharma: warmth of the locals? rita: Yes we were in RAchi Village for 10 days ( its in the film) ..it s Nyshi Village rita: they have these long houses on stilts... rita: so we stayed with one of the families rita: it was absolutely amazing....they were all very excited with seeing their photgraphs on the camera rita: so at the end of it we had to visti each and every household in the village Susan Sharma: I always thought NE tribals have been photographed extensively by foreigners rita: and the houses are all spread out - some on top of the hill, some down below rita: till we got everyone's group photograph..... Susan Sharma: I correct my impression now. rita: NE is a huge area... rita: there are still places in Arunachal and other states where very few people have gone rita: Most of the population is tribal, but unlike the rest of the country here the tribal communities own most of the forests Susan Sharma: Is that true in all NE states? rita: They heavily depend on the forest for wood, vegetables, cultivation, wild meat etc rita: Yes except for Assam Susan Sharma: So big dams, mining etc cannot happen without people's permmission rita: Big dams are government projects and I dont think they look at taking permission from anyone rita: Mining is happening - but illegally - and both outsiders and locals are involved rita: infact mining is one of the biggest threats to the natural resources there - specialyl in Meghalaya Susan Sharma: Oh! rita: also parts of Nagaland rita: There are some areas where people are fighting the mining groups....but its a tough battle Susan Sharma: Tourism earnings must be down because of insurgency? rita: Also the northeast in general has been a neglected region... rita: yes tourism possibilities are huge as the landscapes are amazing...but insurgency Susan Sharma: My son went on a motorcycle tour with a friend -covered all states except Nagagland. Susan Sharma: He was advised not to travel after 4Pm. rita: has come in the way. Now in Arunchal Pradesh the state govt has declared rita: that they want to promote toursm rita: Yes even when we were filming in 2007 in Kohima we could not step out after 4 rita: in the villages it was fine....recently its been okay Susan Sharma: NE is probably the best forest we have in india. rita: Manipur has been in a bad shape for quite some time Susan Sharma: Kudos to you for braving it out and bringing out the real story rita: Yes I think it still has almost 25% of India's total forest cover rita: and a huge diversity of flora and fauna Susan Sharma: Your film got the coveted Green panda award! rita: Yes its the Panda Award , also called the Green Oscar:) Susan Sharma: Once we had a chat titled "wildlife film making" and the chat room crashedtoo many people Susan Sharma: So this time I avoided mentioning film making rita: hahaha rita: okay.so we have no hits....you are the culprit rita: but good to chat with you Susan Sharma: We will have one more session- next month or so on wild life film making rita: okay Susan Sharma: Are you working on a film now? rita: yes we are doin a film on women sea weed collectors in the south Susan Sharma: Please give a month convenient to you 18th of any month. rita: and some more documentation projects in the northeast rita: Next month looks tough....will let you know when I am around Susan Sharma: That is fine. rita: Its a great effort from your side - Susan Sharma: We do have some members from North east If you click on "Members from India" on home page you can see the no. rita: okay Susan Sharma: Thank you. Susan Sharma: I am realising that too few people are truly dedicated like you Susan Sharma: We just cannot afford to give up rita: I wont say that. There are many people working on the gorund in really remote areas, and against all odds Susan Sharma: It is great to see youngsters devoting full time to the conservation issues rita: And I think those people provide the inspiration. rita: For us its something we love doing, get to see amazing places.... Susan Sharma: It will be great if you can write in about some of those people you know. We can publish them on the website esply the NGOs rita: I think that way there is much more awareness about nature amongst school kids and the youth now rita: Okay will do that rita: For our work you can check out www.dustyfootindia.com Susan Sharma: By the time they grow up, the adults who are in charge right now, must not deplete our natural resources rita: yes:) Susan Sharma: Yes I will rita: I guess one can only try and lets see where it goes Susan Sharma: Thank you Rita, for not getting discouraged in talking to a one woman audience. Susan Sharma: I will see that the transcript is given all publicity rita: No problem. It was nice chatting with you. Take care and best wishes for all your nature ventures Susan Sharma: So, good night and thank you once again.

Chat Archive Dragonflies and Damsel Flies - February, 2017 Online Courses on the study of birds - July, 2015 Rewilding degraded Land- practical experiences - June, 2015 Why are vultures important for Swachh Bharat? - May, 2015 Green Living - March, 2015 Restoring degraded lands for wildlife - January, 2015 Insect Tourism - November, 2014 Use of GIS and Remote Sensing for Biodiversity Conservation - October, 2014 Why celebrate wildlife week? - September, 2014 Wildlife Film making - July, 2014 Wildlife Film making - June, 2014 Sharing of Experiences by our wilderness volunteers - May, 2014 Online Environmental Courses - March, 2014 Decreasing tolerance of backyard wildife - February, 2014 Frogs of India - January, 2014 Sustainable Development: The Right Approach - December, 2013 Tiger Cyclowalk- an Interview with Sunil Joshi - December, 2013 Tiger Cyclowalk - Highlands to Ocean - November, 2013 Volunteering at Melghat Tiger Reserve - October, 2013 Role of Citizens in Scientific Research - September, 2013 Ranthambore Adventure - January, 2013 Bats-The Night Warriors - October, 2012 Man vs Tiger-Can Science help? - July, 2012 Human Elephant Conflict - June, 2012 Saving the one horned rhino - May, 2012 "Man-Leopard Conflict - how we can deal with it" - April, 2012 Environment and Wildlife Film making - March, 2012 "Rainforest Wildlife-Unique adaptations" - February, 2012 Conserving wildlife in fragmented landscapes - January, 2012 Urban Biodiversity - September, 2011 Green Hiking in the Himalayas - August, 2011 Role of Zoos in Conservation - July, 2011 Reduce, Recycle and Reuse - June, 2011 Black Necked Cranes - symbol of the rising Green Consciousness - May, 2011 Wildlife Issues in the North -East of India - April, 2011 Trekking in the Himalaya - March, 2011 Conservation of Marine Diversity in India - February, 2011 Plant native trees this monsoon - January, 2011 Human Elephant Conflict - December, 2010 Conservation and Development in Emerging India - November, 2010 "WILL ANIMALS ADAPT TO ANOTHER HABITAT........ - October, 2010 Responsible Tourism- Way forward to conservation? - September, 2010 Vulture Conservation in India - August, 2010 Plant a tree (trees) this monsoon - June, 2010 Role of Urban Birds - April, 2008 "Role of Urban Birds" - April, 2008 GM Foods and Bio-diversity - March, 2008 Taking Responsibility for One's Carbon Emissions - February, 2008 Ecological Security - January, 2008 The Himalayan Musk Deer - November, 2007 Urban Wildlife - October, 2007 Disappearing Tigers: Taking Stock - August, 2007 Garbage littered on our Streets - July, 2007 Bear Conservation nad Protection - June, 2007 Role of Captive Elephants in wildlife conservation - May, 2007 Endangered Animals of Sikkim - April, 2007 Citizen Participation in Environmental Issues - March, 2007 Vulture crisis in India - January, 2007 City Parks and Biodiversity - December, 2006 Why is bird census important? - November, 2006 Shooting Wildlife with a Camera - October, 2006 Rain Harvesting - September, 2006 Environmental Education - July, 2006 Tribal Bill - June, 2006 Trekking in the Himalaya Region - May, 2006 Trekking in the Himalayas - May, 2006 Coastal Wildlife - April, 2006 MARINE BIOLOGY - March, 2006 Atmospheric Brown Cloud - February, 2006 Tiger Census - January, 2006 Tiger Task Force Report - December, 2005 Marine Ecosystems Chat dated 18 November 2005 - November, 2005 Coral Reefs - October, 2005 Global Warming - September, 2005 Tourism and Wildlife - August, 2005 Environment Education - July, 2005 Wild Elephants - May, 2005 Tiger Census - April, 2005 Enforcement of Wildlife Act and the Common Man - January, 2005 Crane Migration - November, 2004 Migratory birds of India - October, 2004 Offences Against Wildlife - September, 2004 Man Animal Conflict - August, 2004 Recent Amendments to the Wildlife Act - July, 2004 Is there a case for keeping large mammals in zoos? - June, 2004 Captive elephant management - May, 2004 Conservation of seaturtles - April, 2004 Asiatic Lion - March, 2004 Plight of lesser animals - February, 2004 Mangroves of India - January, 2004 DEER AND ANTELOPE - November, 2003 PHEASANTS - October, 2003 Amphibians - September, 2003 Chat on Butterflies - Our Natural Gardeners - April, 2003 Chat on Asian Elephant - January, 2003 Chat on Migratory Birds - December, 2002 Chat on Snakes - November, 2002 Chat on Rare Birds - August, 2002 Chat on Environmental Issues - July, 2002