Celebrating central Indian forests
Wild Madhya Pradesh
Editors: Bittu Sahgal and Lakshmy Raman
Publisher: Sanctuary Nature Foundation
ISBN: 819354964-3
Pages: 174
It is not a good idea, a friend had quipped
after reading one of my articles on wildlife conservation, to – each time –
raise questions, point out the gaps and make people uncomfortable and unhappy.
On occasions we need to move beyond cynicism and technical details, to not just
accept but also celebrate what we have. A celebration which enthuses people to
take a plunge, venture into the forests, get closer to its denizens and make
them take steps to protect them. This book does just that. It celebrates the central
Indian forests. This is a premise it makes clear at the onset.
The book is an effort of a large team –
authors, photographers and designers amongst others. Most of the chapters are
based on personal experiences and carry vivid descriptions. Diversity brought
about by the wide range of authors - from those with half a century of wildlife
association to relatively recent entrants to the wildlife world - adds to the
reading experience. The chapters also offer snippets of existing writings on
these forests – from recent articles to the classics by naturalists from
another century.
While the spot-light is on protected areas the
book also has chapters devoted to wetlands and birds. It touches upon forests
beyond protected areas (Balaghat),
art (Gond Art) and highlights places
of tourist interest around the protected areas (Orchha) as well.
Towards the later part conservation challenges
like forest connectivity and efforts to meet these challenges like camera traps
(to augment our understanding of the
landscapes) have been discussed. These could help orient the tourist to
conservation issues and present a snapshot of the complex scenario on hand. The
final pages carry references and checklists. The first line of the
acknowledgements is poignant, ‘the first
debt of gratitude . . goes out to our ancients who taught us to venerate nature
as an article of faith’.
The images and their presentation are of high
quality. They take the reader to the central Indian forests. As I flipped the
pages I was reminded of days when I was based near one of these forests. Of
openness stretching till eternity, silences where I heard the wind blowing,
sunsets which left me mesmerized and of course the long walks and longer
bike-rides which till date have me hooked on.
The book makes the reader aware to the lesser
known yet large protected areas like Sanjay Dubri and Nauradehi on the one hand
and about the threatened ones like Karera and Ghatigaon on the other. It presents
compelling nuggets from recent history: ‘the
main objective of the management of Kanha was to save the barasingha, and
everything else was subsidiary’ or ‘all
white tigers today are sired by one individual, all are in captivity’.
Besides elucidating the splendour of these forests it also brings out what we,
many a time, end up doing to them, like the drainage lines depositing sewage in
the once pristine lakes (Madhav).
The book posits tourism as THE way forward to
successful conservation. It does raise concerns: ‘but not the way tourism currently works’ or ‘I continue to find myself avoiding the hordes of tourists that tag
behind any and every tiger like so many camp followers’. However, it does
little to recognise that tourism is just one of the basket of livelihood
options which the locals have and like other options tourism may succeed in
some landscapes, while in some it may not. The book is also generously
sprinkled with name dropping and superlatives including: ‘the most important tiger corridor in the world’ and ‘one of India’s finest conservation
biologists’. And like majority of tourists, it steers clear of discussing
contentious (read unpleasant) issues.
The book accepts that conserving these forests
is anything but easy: ‘There are no magic
bullets. India is a very densely populated country, and with every passing day,
the need to match land use policies to the imperatives of biodiversity, climate
change and livelihoods is becoming more acute’. And while it has little new
to offer to the wildlife conservation community it carries a pertinent message for
the community, ‘commitment is what this
country’s conservation efforts need most’.
The book though is primarily meant for a wide
audience - the burgeoning wildlife tourism community. It succeeds in presenting
the forests in a different light to the tourists. It brings out the magic of
the forests beyond tigers and jeep-safaris. This is a book the hotels in the
region will do good to get as will the tourists interested in the region. A
book which will make them fall in love with the central Indian forests.
Other Wildlife Conservation books reviewed:
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