For me, the past fortnight has been eventful; starting with the International Biodiversity Day, then guiding the rescue and ex-situ conservation of an amazingly alluring frog species endemic to the Western Ghats, and a brief visit to Lucknow, the bygone city of Nawabs. I did also make a hasty visit to the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, driven by a mix of curiosity and devotion, in that order of proportion.
The model code of conduct restricted the scale of the biodiversity day celebration on May 22; and there was sincere, intense deliberations and review of the work done thus far by the Goa State Biodiversity Board. After the customary exchange of bouquets, lighting of the lamp and photo-session, the environment secretary and director environment set the tone of the event in their addresses; and the day was well spent in weighing the evolving Goa State Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan under directions of Member Secretary, Dr Pradip Sarmokadam. This officer has won the confidence of biodiversity enthusiasts with his amicable demeanour, participatory approach, result oriented administration and ‘firefighting’ skills; all so essential to perform and stay relevant in government circles.
Veteran Goan scientist and intellectual Dr Nandakumar Kamat’s presence effectively raised the bar of the debate and cogitation. Of course, when it is ‘Nandu’ as we affectionately call him, his presence and aura instil seriousness in the discourse and awe in the audience, and one must unwearyingly endure his high decibel level animated discourse to assimilate the depth of his methodical submissions and reactions.
The young brigade of promising naturalists like Parag Rangnekar, Dr Pronnoy Baidya offered many valuable suggestions to make the proposed plan pragmatic and state specific. My friend Sujit Kumar Dongre from the Centre for Environment Education, who this ‘sarkar’ affirms is indispensable by including him in almost every single statutory committee; has been tasked with conducting public consultations on the draft, compiling and integrating the inputs for inclusion in the final plan. I attended the event with my wife, who patiently sat through the proceedings, braving my lengthy reactions during the technical proceeding, and marvelling at the wealth of biodiversity that we hold in Goa’s territorial confines.
While the spirit of these celebrations was fresh in my mind, on May 25 I received a photo and a message on my WhatsApp from Advocate Surel Tilve of Ponda, requesting me to confirm the identity of the photographed specimen. I immediately recognised the somewhat dried carcass of the frog in photograph as that of the ‘Malabar Gliding Frog’, an endemic frog species of Western Ghats that I’ve often encountered in Molem National Park. Surel informed me that the dead specimen was found in a small temple (devlee) in the serene village of Bandoda. I had visited this village for the purpose of cave exploration about a year ago, along with Surel and his team of field worthy youngsters Devesh Naik and Om Kurpaskar. Subsequently, Om interned on my ‘Bats of Goa Project’ for about a year.
Surel is an interesting and rare blend of a lawyer, biodiversity enthusiast and a politician; above all a respectful man who loves his village and its nature. I called him back and advised him to explore and examine the foliage of trees around the ‘devlee’ where the frog carcass was found, specially branches overhanging waterbodies. In no time his team conducted a surveillance of the area and located the unmistakable frothy ‘foam nests’ of this tree frog with a camouflaging green colour, yellow feet and blood-red webbing. The nests were found in a drum filled with water besides the temple, and some on the terrace. He relayed fresh photos, on examining which I noticed egg clusters. I advised on translocating the foam nests laden with eggs into aerated water trough with some leaf litter.
I was enquiring on regular basis and yesterday Surel sent me a video showing tiny tadpoles swimming in the water! A casual encounter of the village folks with a dead frog turned out to be an exercise in documentation and ex-situ conservation effort for an endemic uncommon frog, whose global assessment by IUCN in 2021 has shown decreasing population trend. This is real participatory conservation of biodiversity on ground; that escapes publicity and lacks support. Citizen science is practically non-existent in Goa, and we must encourage it on priority. I felt happy at being consulted by Adv Surel Tilve and elated on arrival of tadpoles.
From May 24 to 29, my wife and I were on a private visit to Lucknow, where I met our good old field buddy Shrihari Kugaji from Belgaum. A passionate and fiery environmental activist then, Shrihari is now a Lt Colonel posted at Headquarters of Central Command of Territorial Army in Lucknow. He insisted that we shift to his army guest house and extended all possible help and hospitality, including a quick trip to Ram Janmabhoomi temple at Ayodhya. Shri continues to be critical of the unintelligent environmental governance here and speaks passionately about the need to overhaul our conservation priorities.
As for the celebration of World Environment Day on June 5 at the Maquinez palace in Panaji graced by a galaxy of ministers, bureaucrats and citizen invitees; I consciously stayed away despite the invitation and spent time reflecting deeply on this year’s theme ‘Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience’. This annual celebratory symbolism, bureaucratic boasting, and political thundering are ‘obsessive compulsions of the polity’, and the enthusiasm ends with vote of thanks!
Environment cannot be protected by sloganeering, release of glossy reports, and pretentious lordly speeches before a captive audience in airconditioned auditorium. Where there is no connect between the speech and intent, the pretence is exposed in those insincere, rehearsed utterances before a paralyzed audience that has the vision to see through the sham, but no strength to expose the lie of those in positions of power. I think it’s time to move from ‘curated symbolism’ to sustained action on ground.
