Biswajit Mohanty is the Chairman of Greenpeace India. A conservationist, Mohanty is currently the Secretary of Wildlife Society of Orissa and has been actively working for wildlife and environment protection for almost three decades. He is currently working on study and mitigation of human elephant conflict in Odisha through community participation and control of trafficking of Pangolins. He has practised as a CA with 27 years of experience in taxation and audit and also holds a Ph.D in wildlife crime. Mohanty is a recipient of National RTI award for Bravery, (2010) from National RTI Alliance, Lucknow; Certificate of Appreciation (2001) from PETA, USA; Wildlife Service Award, (2001) from Sanctuary Asia-ABN Amro Bank; Ford Conservation and Environment Grant, (2001) for environmental protection; Times of India - Leadership Award, (2011) as Environmentalist; and Orissa Environment Society Award – Environmentalist of the Year, 2010.
Many seeds and seedlings are burnt to ashes and never sprout or regenerate. The smoke clouds the sky and is a major climate-changing factor since it is carbon emission. Even the new plantations done by the department are engulfed.
A visit to Cuttack from a remote coastal village was not easy six decades ago. It did not take a few hours as there was no motorized transport. People had to walk, cycle or ride a bullock cart.
Satellite technology and GIS mapping should be used to study the flood patterns. Mitigation for flood damage would be more appropriate to manage floods rather than attempts to stop the river from flooding into the historical flood plains which nature has developed over centuries.
Odisha is India's largest elephant graveyard. A big reason for non-fixing of accountability is the demon of corruption that has engulfed the state forest department in last one decade.
Compared to the simple and delightful ways in which marriages were celebrated two decades ago, they have now turned into ostentatious events, where people compete with each other in a shameful and rather obscene display of wealth and pomp.
Can we get back our tigers? It is very unlikely since the big cat population has plunged below the viability level.
Barbara was proposed as a sanctuary around two decades ago in view of its rich bird life and giant squirrel population. It will be better off as a community conservation reserve so that locals can be encouraged, motivated and engaged to protect this beautiful patch of forest that will enable it to retain its bio-diversity and continue to be a naturalists’ delight for years to come!
One incident firmly etched in my mind was the encounter with a wolf whom we had once surprised at her den.
Tiger conservation in Odisha has been an unmitigated disaster since the last two decades! It is common knowledge that tigers are disappearing in the state despite vast forest coverage and comparably a low human population.
Dholes are extremely fast feeders and in no time can strip down a full grown sambhar to its bare bones. Their restless character prompts them to gulp down mouthfuls of meat before lopping away to their next destination.
Though mechanised fishing is banned at the congregation zones, every year thousands of turtles are killed due to illegal fishing due to lack of proper patrolling by the Forest Department.
Niyamgiri is the abode of the Dongria Kondh tribe, an endemic and unique tribal group whose population is less than 10,000.
Odisha’s incredible wildlife wealth needs to be preserved for the future so that our children become true inheritors of this state’s natural heritage.