the goan I network
PANAJI
Humans should understand the importance of wildlife in their lives and try to live in harmony with nature, pursuing effective mechanisms to minimize conflict, said Malaika Vaz, a National Geographic explorer while delivering the first lecture of the DD Kosambi Festival of Ideas which was inaugurated on Sunday at the Dinanath Mangeshkar auditorium, Kala Academy.
“We can make a difference in environment protection if we localise efforts with a long-term strategy at the right time,” said Vaz, citing the example of environmentalist Appara Gau in Andhra Pradesh who changed a barren marshy land into a green jungle of mangroves which is now acting as a habitat for thousands of wildlife species.
Vaz said displaying wildlife to people in an artificial environment like a circus or a zoo is now outdated. She said, she is trying to take wildlife to the larger audience with her experiences in wildlife expeditions.
Vaz is presently working on a television series for Discovery Channel which is an eight-part series on endangered species.
Scientist and researchers work should be highlighted by the wildlife presenter, she said, adding that for conservation impact, collaboration is the key.
“Ecological researchers, conservationists, students and policymakers should come together and work to protect the environment with the help of the local people”, she said, adding that the difficult conditions in which local communities live alongside wildlife have to be analysed. Vaz also mentioned an incident which changed the dimensions of her views, wherein she interviewed a 14-year girl whose grandfather was killed by a tiger.
“That girl in anger asked, ‘didi why are you not killing tigers?’ which changed my view that while conserving environment we also have to consider the human angle,” said Vaz.
Green policies should be framed by taking into consideration the economic and political framework, she said.
“I showed how people live in co-existence with wild cats. There are shepherds communities which are living for thousands of years with leopards,” she revealed. Interacting with the audience, Vaz said students should experiment and choose the field of their interest and work hard to achieve their goals.
She also advised students to be in a competitive mode and learn more than the prescribed things to excel.
Raising a battalion for wildlife protection, Vaz said is her goal as the current generation will be the last who will have a say in wildlife protection.
“If this generation fails, the next can’t do anything to overcome the damage caused to the environment,” she added.
She also said that she would like to work in Goa in the coming years.
As the human population is inevitably expanding ‘Managing’ man-animal conflicts with an effective role played by forest officials is the only solution, she said.
She also expressed her view that the way government handled man-eating tigress Avani in Maharashtra which resulted in killing her was unscientific.
Vaz also said that using terms like female filmmaker are irrelevant in today’s context. She said in the film making team in her third series now, there are more women. In the first series, she was the lone woman in the team.
Earlier, after inaugurating the DD Kosambi festival of ideas, Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude said that the lecture series is a platform for children to imbibe knowledge and dream high.
Environmental film producer Nitya Sood anchored the session.
