Survey ~ Conservation Education

“We have to get people out there, only a bit farther away. You cannot accomplish what we are talking about inside most cities. You have to be ‘immersed’ among the wild and growing things, in direct contact with the elements of life… We have to help people take in more of what’s around them out there….and….we have to make sure people have a good time while they are there.” - Steve Van Matre.

Right from my days with conservation education in Baghmara (South Garo Hills, Meghalaya) I have always believed in what Steve Van Matre said above but was either scared of taking up the tasks or thought too much on doing it perfectly. This of course led to my not undertaking it at Saiha (Mizoram) either. In course of the survey, however, there has been a significant learning on this aspect.

In our survey team some of the colleagues were involved primarily in helping with luggage. They hailed from villages in the landscape and brought with them cheerful banter which pushed aside weariness to the background. At one of our campsites in the initial days we came across Hoolock gibbon (Hauhuk or Vei-tu) and the Phayres leaf monkey (Dawr or Pala). The Hoolock gibbon was seen carrying its baby when one of the initial subgroups reached the site while the Phayres leaf monkey was heard when one of us went to fetch bamboo; for the fire to keep us warm after the evening meal. In both the instances they were tempted to hunt them; and this during a survey for a Wildlife Sanctuary!! I became conscious to the extent to which they practiced hunting and realized the need to communicate repeatedly with them ~ The next evening while we were getting the meal ready they initiated conversations on my ‘strange act’ read stopping them from hunting the 2 rare primates. They asked me whether they could hunt these animals outside the Wildlife Sanctuary (one of them was even confident of luring the poor animals on the wrong side of the boundary). Not being happy with my answer they asked if they could hunt animals that came from Burma or in Burma, stating that they would try a Burmese pig. Few more questions followed and I felt glad at having fostered an interaction with a segment of the society crucial to wildlife conservation. I also realized that the ensuing communications on conservation will have to be basic, simple and addressing their questions – confusions rather than focusing on the sub-species of the primate or the number of troops in the landscape.

The initial communications (during which they also expressed their intrigue at my taking notes mid-way and putting in time each evening with my diary) broke the ice and in the following days they had questions on my using the binoculars, field-guides and the camera. While I could put across the reason for observing birds, checking them up in the field guide and then recording them without the hindrance of the language barrier my colleague had to pitch in when it came to “Why were we taking picture of scats and pug marks?”. After the WHY part we shared HOW we used the binoculars and handed the field-guides to them along with the binoculars. It was invigorating to see them animatedly scan the trees for birds and discuss the same with big eyes and excided hands. While this was a frequent endeavour more in a reaction mode; a regular exercise was showing them (interested ones ~) the pictures taken each day on the camera screen, after the evening meal. This had them “involved” and during the later part of the ‘adventure’, as I like to refer to the survey, besides discussing the names of birds I also saw them (with great interest) arguing over hoof marks being that of a Serow (Saza or Saw-zaw) or a Sambar (Sazuk or Sasu) and pointing out the presence and explaining the operation of traps and snares we came across. They also shared some beliefs pertaining to wildlife with me during one evening; Slow loris (Sahuai or Ru-lei-pa) they said was feared and never killed.

On our way back while coming back on a boat up the Kaladan river we stopped to rest for a while. Here one of the colleagues saw a fisherman who had caught a ‘big bird’ which we later understood was a Coucal. This colleague went up to the fisherman, scolded him for his ‘foolish act’ and then asked the rest of us with great satisfaction to release the bird a little far so that the fisherman could not catch it again.

Communications on Wildlife Conservation by all means make more sense when amidst Wildlife rather than in classroom or living rooms in towns. These could involve actions like birding and one can place emphasis on raising interest levels by nurturing curiosity and encouraging deliberations rather than giving names of mammals or birds. Steve Van Matre says on this “Names are like landmarks, you don’t need very many of them to find your way”. These interactions can be undertaken with school going students and other segments of the society. This is pertinent not only for cities but also for small towns located on the periphery of biodiverse landscapes (or in cases even within them) for the younger generation in these places too is disconnected from nature like their counterparts in cities.

Thanks Roshni for suggestions on the draft.