INSTITUTIONS

For the cause of nature

LYLA BAVADAM
in Mumbai

At the centenary celebrations of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, the organisation launches new initiatives and re-dedicates itself to the preservation of wild nature and to good science.

IN 1885, when six Englishmen and two Indians got together to constitute the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), they probably did not imagine the heights to which their efforts would rise. Their initial aim was quite modest - to document their observations of nature. The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, which recorded their authentic and witty field notes, gradually came to be respected as a periodical of worthy reference.

The centenary volume of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.

The Journal is the first of its kind in Asia and one of the oldest such in the world. Its 100th volume this year marks a continuing tradition of excellence. Articles in the early volumes of the Journal serve as a reminder that conservation has always been an imperative it pursued. A 1907 issue talks of 20,000 kingfishers being killed and auctioned in London. The birds' brilliant plumage was in great demand as a fashion accessory then, as were the plumes of egrets and herons. More than just a document, the Journal has been a tool that naturalists utilised to influence policy-makers.

At a time when conservationists are divided on even basic issues of conservation, the relevance of the Journal's on-site field knowledge becomes even more crucial for conservation efforts. All over the world, experts have expressed regret over the decline of the old pattern of field studies. At a symposium of the American Society of Naturalists in July, Dr. Paul Dayton said in his keynote address:

"A sad commentary is that our ability to respond and to defend natural systems has been eroded within academe by scientific elitism against natural history and systematics. Biology undergraduates increasingly have little opportunity to learn classic zoology or botany... Many first-year graduate students do not know the major phyla or the life history and sometimes even the anatomy or developmental biology of their own study organisms.

"Unfortunately, the study of minor phyla is a thing of the past. Without this grounding, it is no wonder that the respect for natural history has been lost despite the fact that this grounding seems vital. In almost all cases, we lack appropriate natural history to evaluate relationships and population thresholds, and we have lost virtually all instruction in taxonomy; it is a poignant paradox to lose biodiversity while simultaneously losing the scientific knowledge base of what it is... We have lost an enormous amount of evolutionary and cultural wisdom, and by destroying the natural sciences in academe, we may have foreclosed our future options to try to evaluate declining populations and ecosystem collapse."

Recognising these perils, the BNHS has marked the centenary of the Journal with the launch of new initiatives to re-dedicate itself to the preservation of wild nature and to good science.

VIVEK BENDRE

At the entrance of the BNHS building in Mumbai.

The Society has never failed to acknowledge that its successes are an outcome of the efforts of individuals, a fact that was confirmed at the centenary celebrations this year. Jamshed Irani, best known for his illustrations in Salim Ali's Book of Indian Birds, was presented with the Salim Ali Loke Wan Tho special award for his work as an artist and scientific natural history illustrator. Lavkumar Khacchar received the Loke Wan Tho Lifetime Award for Excellence in Ornithology for his pioneering work in ornithology and on the Nanda Devi National Park. (Khacchar was also instrumental in the declaration of the Marine National Park in the Gulf of Kutch.) T.J. Roberts received the Loke Wan Tho Lifetime Award for his service to the flora and fauna of the Indian subcontinent. It was also a recognition of his work in conservation, particularly in Pakistan. Dr. George Schaller received the Salim Ali International Award for his work in conservation. Also present at the centenary celebrations was Dr. Lee Talbot.

Schaller, Talbot and Roberts have one thing in common. They have all made seminal contributions to the study of wildlife in the subcontinent. Schaller, a wildlife biologist, introduced the study of scientific wildlife biology to India. J.C. Daniel, honorary secretary of the BNHS, describes Schaller's work thus: "His primary aim was to write a scientific treatise as well as a popular book. He's an excellent communicator. He came to India in the 1950s when conservation was not such an imperative and he chose to study precisely those species that are now on the endangered list."

Dr. Lee Talbot, ecologist and geographer, came to India in 1954. He was the first staff ecologist for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (now known as the World Conservation Union) and his mission was to study endangered species. At the time, Talbot wrote an article entitled "A Look at Threatened Species", which was published in Oryx, the magazine of the Fauna Preservation Society of the United Kingdom. The article was the first to draw attention to the precarious state of the Indian rhinoceros and other endangered species of South-East Asia.

The work of T.J. Roberts, naturalist, author and champion of wildlife, is in the highest scientific traditions. His definitive study of the mammals of Pakistan is the only published work documenting all the existing, known mammalian fauna of the region. Following the best traditions of amateur naturalists, Roberts himself has illustrated the book. He is also an internationally recognised ornithologist and butterfly expert. His two-volume work The Birds of Pakistan comprises the first complete account of the avifauna of Pakistan.

As part of the centenary journal commemorative function, the BNHS held a three-day seminar around the theme "A Look at Threatened Species". The theme is also a tribute to Talbot's article of the same name. Working with the knowledge that conservation is an issue that has to be brought into the public consciousness, the BNHS has initiated programmes at various levels of society - from school and college nature clubs to an e-group called Defending Wild India and the Green Governance Programme, which seeks to sensitise and involve corporations in preservation and conservation. The Green Governance Programme has received a grant of Rs.50 lakhs from the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI).

The Indian Army has had a long association with the BNHS. Humourously referring to himself as one of the country's biggest landlords in his role as Quartermaster General of the Indian Army, Lt.General V. Patankar said the Army had begun conservation procedures on its lands. Afforestation, wasteland development, biodiversity conservation, use of renewable sources of energy and environmental education are some of the areas that the Army has committed itself to. The new outlook is a far cry from the days when the environment was more likely to be associated with shikar (hunting) and other blood sports rather than conservation. While conservation may still not be the Army's forte, it has banned shikar and attempts are made to assist wildlife in distress. Patankar said many animal lives would have been lost in a flood in Assam's Kaziranga National Park if it had not been for the Army's efforts. Army engineers constructed high platforms in the rising waters. When the floods receded, 80 rhinos were found on these platforms stranded but safe.

At the release of the centenary Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde announced a grant of Rs.11 lakhs from the Chief Minister's Fund for the BNHS. More importantly, he declared 80 square kilometres of deciduous forest in Tungareshwar as a sanctuary. The announcement was significant for many reasons. For one, no new sanctuary has been declared in the State in many years. In fact, several existing ones face denotification. And, two, the Tungareshwar forest adjoins the Borivali National Park (on the outskirts of Mumbai). The creation of a sanctuary will increase the range of movement of animals in the park, which have been experiencing tremendous restrictions owing to advancing urban limits. Tungareshwar is also the area where tiger pugmarks were recorded in the last few months. They had caused great excitement since the tiger is believed to be extinct in these parts since the 1800s.

In contrast to Maharashtra's initiatives are the actions of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The Ministry proposes to remove the sea cucumber from the list of endangered species at a time when the conservation status of the animal remains precarious. The proposal has come at a time when the World Conservation Union released the latest `Red List' of the most threatened species on earth. Of the 12,259 endangered species that are on the list, 482 are from India. These include 19 critically endangered species of plants and animals such as the Namdapha flying squirrel and the Wroughton's free-tailed bat, and also the Syzygium travancorium, a plant found only in a few sacred groves in Kerala. This underscores the need for a working partnership between policy-makers and conservationists, and also a need to reintroduce the old-fashioned study of natural history. As Dayton said: "Political support for conservation depends on public passion, which must be based on their real understanding of what they wish to protect. We cannot protect to restore what we do not know."

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