Happy New Year.

Let us start off this year on an optimistic note. If you have been following the fatal spiral of large predators into extinction due to the Man-Animal Conflict, there is some good news with a scientific program based on radio-collar and GPS tracking of black bears being initiated in Kashmir. One wonders what became of the equally hyped radio-collar Hangul tracking program launched earlier.

News Link:
Government wakes up to man-animal conflict

The future of the splendid Kashmir Markhor [Capra falconeri cashmiriensis] may also be more secure with central funds being released directly to the state for the conservation of its habitat. Let us be thankful too that official permission to hunt an endangered species is not obtainable in Kashmir. Unfortunately, as the next news item reports, you can buy a permit to shoot the "National Animal" elsewhere.

News Links:
Conservation plans for bearded goat in J&K
Norwegian pays $81,200 for Markhor hunting in Pakistan



More information about the Markhor is available here:
Markhor Wikipedia Entry



Image Courtesy : Wikipedia Commons

I was recently asked whether I was a conservationist or an environmentalist. I must confess that I had not given much thought to the difference between the two. I have since sought to enlighten myself and want to share some thoughts with my readers. Apparently conservationists believe in scientifically managed use of natural resources while environmentalists maintain that "nature knows best" and our remaining wildernesses should be left unmanaged for anything except primitive recreation. They believe human intervention is generally harmful to natural resources.

As for myself, I have somewhat of a split personality while it comes to managing our natural resources. At heart I am a hard-core environmentalist. For example, I am appalled at plans to convert the Bangus Valley into a major tourist resort. I have trekked through Bangus in the eighties and the thought that this wild paradise will soon be commercialised into a circus like Pahalgam torments my soul. I hope that a saner voice will call for preservation and the 'powers-that-be' shall listen. However my optimism is tempered with a strong streak of realism. Political opportunism - combined with the fact that economic backwardness forces people in rural areas to jump on to the tourism bandwagon - means that areas like the Bangus Valley are doomed to progress. Kashmir is a small valley with an exponentially increasing population and the pressure on our natural resources like land and water is immense. Even the most die-hard optimist will concede that commercialisation is inevitable, so the logical next step is to ensure at least that that it is managed properly. That is the conservationist point of view - to which I am a reluctant subscriber.

I am busy building a new home for my family. 100% of the wood is being recycled from my old home which had to be dismantled due to weathering compounded by the devastating earthquake that struck Kashmir in 2005. All the bricks and most of the stone that will be used will also be sourced from the dismantled structure. This will significantly reduce the impact our new home would otherwise have had on the environment. No trees will be cut down, no fossil fuels burnt in kilns, and no rocks or earth will be excavated on our account. I will sleep a little better as a consequence.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case with the booming construction business in the valley. People are obsessively buying land and building colonies wherever they can. A little greasing of the right palms and you can build a condo even on a world heritage site. The greatest impact has been on our forests which are being mercilessly massacred with the active connivance, nay, partnership of the concerned official departments. Officially, wood imported all the way from South America is much cheaper to buy than local timber but a strong timber mafia with strong political connections is plundering our forests and selling the green trees almost for free. I have clicked the accompanying pictures from main roads enroute to popular tourist destinations. One can only imagine what must be the condition of forests in the interiors.

News Link:
A Tree For A Meal





As I was writing this post, Muddasir Ali of Greater Kashmir exposed the illegal felling of trees in Dachigam, which is a heavily guarded National Wildlife Sanctuary. It is home to the last viable population of the Hangul or Kashmir Stag. I wonder if the mafia responsible for illegal felling of trees are somehow connected to the dwindling numbers of Hangul. Anyway, if active poaching does not kill off the Hangul, loss of habitat certainly will. Is anybody listening?



News Link:
Dachigam Vandalized As Wildlife Deptt Sleeps

Images copyright Dr. Bakshi Jehangir

One of the most unforgettable sights of Kashmir are undoubtedly the magnificent Chinar trees. All is not well with these noble trees, unfortunately . Only 19,897 chinars were left in the Valley by 2005, from 42,000 in 1970, according to a census by the Chinar Development Authority of the Department of Floriculture. The most famous chinar grove in the valley, the famed Naseem Bagh created by the great Mughal emperors - who nourished these chinar trees with milk - is threatened by the stubborn insistence of the Kashmir University authorities to build a three-storey guest house at one particular spot only. Relocation of this guest house has been demanded by environmentalists, students have gone on hunger strikes in protest, and the official in charge of the welfare of chinars - the Chinar Development Officer - has officially warned the authorities against the construction, but they seem strangely unmoved.

A dozen previously healthy chinars are drying up in the newly-created park on the left bank of the Jehlum between the Zero and Abdullah bridges. There must be something terribly wrong in the methods adopted for the 'beautification' of the Jehlum banks. A remedy needs to be urgently sought before all the chinars in the ambit of the beautification drive meet the same fate. Chinars on either side of the TRC lane adjacent to the JK Bank Corporate HQ are also dying. It would be a sad day indeed if the timeless chinars, having existed in the valley for millenia, were to be wiped out by the greed of a few decades.

Strangely appropriate for the topsy-turvy world of Kashmir, the one chinar that really needs to be cut down is surviving in the face of all odds. This chinar is a deathtrap in the middle of the left lane of the national highway at Sonwar. Ever since I can remember, this particular chinar has been the cause of numerous accidents. A friend holds the dubious distinction of having crashed a bicyle, a motorcycle and a luxury car into this very tree on separate occassions and having lived to tell the tale(s). This tree has survived being cut in half, pollution from the non-stop traffic plying on the national highway and frequent and occasionally fatal crashes. It continues to be treated as a 'holy cow' and seems to be getting heathier with a fresh burst of efflorescence. If it cannot be cut down, maybe it needs to be studied for its unusual resilience as compared to the fragility of the earlier mentioned chinars.



News Links:
Booune - The Tree of Gardens & Parks
Chinar Tree, "Bouin" of Kashmir
CDA rejects revised plan for guesthouse in Naseem Bagh

Update:
I am glad to report that Greater Kashmir has picked up this story and the dying Chinars recieved a lot of airtime on Kashmir's most popular radio station Big 92.7 FM the next day. This blog may be 'a voice in the wilderness' but it seems to be connecting with people.

News Links:
7 Chinars fall to Jhelum beautification

Image copyright Dr. Bakshi Jehangir

In an earlier post, I had pointed out the similarities between Dachigam and Ranthambhore and recommended that eco-tourism be started in Dachigam. I must confess that I was surprised by the announcement that the government has, in its own words, already 'thrown open' the park to tourists and visitors. I hope that it is the Wildlife Department which is in charge of tourist activities inside the park rather than the Tourism department. I also hope that before allowing tourism a systematic study of the impact of tourism activity has been undertaken with measures already in place to counter the possible negative effects like pollution etc.

Many important questions need answers. Is there a cap on the number of tourists and vehicles allowed inside the park based on some scientific study? Are there going to be trained guides compulsarily accompanying every group inside the park? Have these guides been trained to identify wild animals and trees etc. for the benefit of the visitors? Have they been instructed to be firm enough not to allow any damage to the sensitive ecosystem of the park?

I sincerely hope it is not just a hasty decision on the part of the government for eco-tourism publicity. If properly planned and managed, eco-tourism has enormous potential in Dachigam and elsewhere in Kashmir. However, there is a real danger that allowing unplanned tourism activity just to make up the numbers may prove to be counter-productive in the long run.



News Links:
Dachigam thrown open
Dachigam Drive, boon or bane for Hangul?
Tourism shouldnt be allowed to destroy eco-system

Click here for a larger image.

Image copyright Dr. Bakshi Jehangir