SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2020 TIMES EVOKE NEW DELHI ‘Saving will preserve humanity —

Her Nature of Nurture women sustain life and they understand this’ he Earth changes season quietly but Birute Galdikas is an icon in the conservation of orangutans. A primatologist who has worked in Indonesia since the 1970s, and founder of the majestically, and autumn is emerg- Foundation International (OFI), Galdikas is among the pioneering ‘Trimates’, which includes scientists and . Galdikas spoke to Ting around the world now. The brightness of summer is changing to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke about what drew her to the world of orangutans, why this amazing world is vanishing — and how women can help: burnished autumnal light. Tree leaves Getty Images appear dipped in gold and the moon has What inspired you to study ? simply expanding a 50-metre strip of for- taken on a rich, luminous glow. Nature’s Well, as a child, I was very curious. I est to 500 metres, they were shocked. We’ll Our endangered relations: seasons, seen in such contrasting shades, wondered where we came from and who go bankrupt, they said. This is a multi- may seem ephemeral, but its heart is our predecessors were. We lived in To- billion-dollar company with half a mil- eternal — and this heart nurtures all life, ronto then and had a lion hectares under palm oil. But this is Why orangutans providing every living being with nourish- large backyard. This how overwhelming the profit motive is. ment through each season, soothing every was 70 years ago and We need to reform the world eco- face extinction soul with wind, rain and light. there wasn’t much nomic system. It drives politics at the The orangutan — Malay for ‘person Women respond instinctively to nature. light pollution. I’d lie highest levels, and behaviour at of the forest’ — is from the As nurturers and sustainers of life, wom- in our backyard, gaze ground level. Last year, we found a or great family. Three species are en cherish nature in multiple ways. A up at the stars and 10-year-old orangutan whose back had found in Indonesia’s rainforests — the woman’s love for nature can be expressed wonder — who are been slashed by palm oil workers. We , the Sumatran in a small act like leaving grains on a ledge we? As I grew older, couldn’t save him. I’ve seen so many orangutan and the Tapanuli orangutan for ants to carry away. Or, it could show in I realised we are all descended from orangutans killed simply because hu- expressions of great heart, like Times primates. My interest kept growing. mans wanted to take over their forests. Orangutans are our closest relatives, Evoke’s global experts who have spent Nothing gives us the right to do this. sharing 97% of our DNA — 2.6 million years determinedly saving endangered As you became a scientist, did you expe- years ago, in the Ice Age of the species from habitat loss, hunters and rience gender discrimination? What are some of the conservation Pleistocene, sea levels were lower than hubris. In conserving nature, There was massive gender discrimi- efforts you’ve taken up? now. After the Ice Age, the seas rose women mirror what nature itself teaches nation in my university. Over 50% We practice deep conservation — we and Borneo, Java and Sumatra were us — that every form of life matters and anthropology graduate students were buy land and replant forests. We patrol cut off, leaving orangutans in isolation has a right to exist in freedom and peace. women and they got the best marks — but national parks. We’ve educated over Orangutans are the largest arboreal This belief is the legacy of leaders like all the professors were male. Most teach- Getty Images 40,000 children at 200 schools about oran- Ruth Bader Ginsburg — and women con- ing assistants were men. It was an infor- IF I COULD TELL YOU MY TALE: The gutans and rainforests. We’ve trained , spending 95% of their time serving nature deepen this powerful belief. mal but strong system of discrimination. orangutan, an incredibly intelligent palm oil field managers about orangu- in trees. They have high cognitive Yet, the challenges women face are I was fortunate to find a mentor, Lou- being, is a vital link in humanity’s story tans. They call us to translocate orangu- abilities, including reasoning, symbolic immense. Historians posit that women is Leakey, who was very influential. I also tans they find to a safe forest — but the communication and tool production developed agriculture in the Neolithic Age, won a fellowship. Perhaps this came from ests of Borneo and Sumatra. These are safe forests are now vanishing. Orangutans are critically endangered but, as the World Bank finds, even today, the fact that no one understood ‘Birute crucial for us to breathe. — their populations have declined in over half the world, women face great Galdikas’ was a female name. Even today, What would you say to young people by 50% in the last 60 years. Habitat resistance in getting land rights. Discrim- I get letters addressed to ‘Mr Galdikas’. What were some of your path-breaking interested in conservation — and loss is a major cause, driven by the scientific discoveries about orangutans? specially to women — now? ination exists in boardrooms too — women But the fact was, for a woman to succeed, destruction of rainforests for palm oil hold just over seven percent of CEO posi- you had to be not only as good as every- My work is longitudinal — I’ve been I would say, field conservation is one and timber. Over 55% of the Bornean tions at the Fortune 500 companies, which body else — you had to be much better. amassing life histories of orangutans. option, but enter politics and corpora- orangutan’s habitat has vanished in the limits their ability to shape the world’s I overcame gender discrimination When I first went into the wild, we didn’t tions too. Unless the priorities of gov- well-being. Even science has barriers — because I found a great mentor who even know what orangutans ate. I estab- ernments and corporations change, the last 20 years, while Indonesia’s forests only 30% of the world’s scientific research- believed in me. I also had a strong role lished that they were mostly frugivores world will not survive. We are losing are reportedly disappearing at the rate ers are women, which has influenced how model in Jane Goodall. Women do or fruit-eaters, they were semi-solitary species every day — from insects to the of one football pitch every 25 seconds science too perceived the Earth. wonders when they mentor and inspire but the females were gregarious. Oran- THIS WAS ONCE HOME: The destruction polar bear or the rhino, species are bare- A century ago, 2,30,000 orangutans The impacts of these barriers are vis- other women. gutans also understand complex social of their rainforests has left orangutans ly hanging on. Please try to change the existed — there are now 1,04,000 ible now in the harm done to nature glob- linkages. I’ve seen two adult females liv- with little natural habitat to survive in socio-economic structure of the world. Bornean orangutans, under 8,000 ally, in reckless carbon emissions heating ‘The Trimates’ then became icons. Did an ing far apart meet and hold hands — hav- I believe women can do this — Sumatran orangutans and less than the Earth, in melting glaciers, vanishing underlying philosophy unite you? ing observed them for decades, I knew ished by companies cutting and burning women grow more radical 800 Tapanuli orangutans forests and the astonishing loss of species Our curiosity and passion united us. they were mother and daughter. And down trees to cultivate palm oil. Some with time. They have Research: National Geographic, — the World Wildlife Fund finds We were not interested in getting ten- they recognised the relationship too. claim that they no longer do this, but children, they nur- Encyclopaedia Britannica, populations have declined globally by 70% ured positions in the West. We had When orangutans meet, they recognise even if you’ve stopped cutting rainfor- ture life and they WWF, The Guardian, in the last 50 years. This impacts human- intense curiosity about the world, and their mother, their siblings, their cous- ests now, where are the orangutans? see what future Current Biology ity which is sustained by multiple species, a passion for the primates we studied. ins. They are incredibly smart. Where are the birds? Where are the generations each producing nutrients, rejuvenating We truly love these beings. trees? They’re gone with the wind, never will go through, ecosystems and managing debris. Empow- We also became deeply involved in Why are orangutans facing a crisis of to return — unless you start rewilding. unless we act now. ering women heals the environment — and their conservation. I’ve been emphasis- extinction now? I’ve explained this to palm oil conces- maintains this cycle of life. Join Times ing for 50 years now — if you save The loss of their habitat is a leading sionaries whose response was, well, then Evoke on a celebration of women who orangutans, you save humankind cause. Millions and millions of hectares we won’t have profits. When I spoke to the IS THERE ANY SHELTER? nurture nature — which nurtures us all. because you save the tropical rainfor- of tropical rainforests have been demol- officials of a palm oil corporation about The orangutan faces an existential threat now iStock ‘My grandmother first showed me a hargila — today, women protect it’ Purnima Devi Barman is a biologist with the NGO Aaranyak, based in Assam, India. Barman has been instrumental in changing attitudes towards the endangered greater adjutant stork or the hargila. She was conferred the prestigious Whitley Award for conservation in 2017. Sharing her perspective with Times Evoke, Barman explains why the hargila is precious, how women are working to save and celebrate it — and how her grandmother first introduced her to this bird:

Getty Images ince my childhood, I was deeply connected to nature because of THE HUNTED: Cheetahs, top predators which support entire ecosystems, are dangerously close to extinction today my grandmother. I was raised Photos Courtesy: Cheetah Conservation Fund Cheetah Conservation Photos Courtesy: Sby her as my father was in the army and my parents had to travel. So, my grandmother looked after me — and she knew that the best solution for a ‘Harming cheetahs causes trophic restless little child was to engage it in nature. She taught me all about birds, animals and plants. I saw the hargila bird cascade — they sustain biodiversity’ for the first time with her. The sight made me so happy. Laurie Marker is a renowned zoologist whose work on conserving cheetahs is famous. Later, I did my Marker moved from America to Namibia in the 1970s, seeking to protect cheetahs from Masters and started human-animal conflict and establishing the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). Sharing working with NGOs like Aaranyak. I real- her insights with Times Evoke, Marker explains why saving the cheetah is vital, how she ised then that people involved local communities in her efforts — and her bond with a cheetah called Khayam: were not very concerned with lesser- known species like the hargila. People n the mid-1970s, I began working at no one knew anything about cheetahs or wildlife. As livestock is profitable, we were passionate about megafauna like a wildlife park in America. I was why they didn’t breed well in captivity. often squeeze out wildlife — but main- rhinos and tigers, but not the endan- one of the few people in the world This was strange given that people in taining wildlife can lead to ecotourism gered hargila, a scavenger bird which Ithen working scientifically on chee- India, for instance, had revered cheetahs and economic well-being. We practise helps in waste management, disease tahs. I developed a breeding programme for 5,000 years. Yet, that had become lost conservancies in Namibia — local com- regulation and nutrient flows. Hargilas TWO IN A THOUSAND: The endangered greater adjutant stork or hargila has a and in 1977, I arrived in Namibia on a science. I wanted to find out everything munities manage their wildlife popula- face existential threats with people cut- population of just over 1,000 birds globally, 75% of which are found in Assam project. That’s when I found farmers I could. I learned how to breed cheetahs tion and benefit from ecotourism. This ting down their nesting trees and de- were killing cheetahs due to human- in captivity and understood how they live gives communities a stake in the welfare stroying their habitats. There were That experience was a turning point began organising hargila armies to animal conflict. I also discovered no in the wild — cheetahs have large home of wildlife — and they become eyes and literally just a few hundred of them left. for me — on the way home, I kept think- stop anyone from hurting these birds. organisation globally was working spe- ranges, females have mate choice, males ears on the ground to stop poaching. Yet, not many people seemed to care. ing, what will I do with my PhD if I can’t Today, women hold traditional baby cifically to save cheetahs — so, I set up live in brother teams which hold terri- We also endeavour to stop the illegal So, I decided I’d work on the hargila. save even one bird? Can I use my educa- showers to celebrate the birds’ breed- the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). tory together. Cheetahs also lack genetic wildlife trade, which goes from the Horn Meanwhile, as per my family’s wish- tion to bring this bird into the Getty Images ing season. Local numbers have There are vital reasons for us to pro- diversity and fragmented populations are of into the Middle East. Sadly, es, I had to get married. Then, I had twin hearts and minds of people? risen from just 30 hargilas tect wildlife. Everything in our natural extremely vulnerable. Today, there are some rich people think that having an daughters. When my kids were just two I couldn’t sleep that night. in 2008 to over 200 now. world is intertwined. Biodiversity is the less than 7,500 cheetahs in the world, exotic animal as a pet is fun. However, and a half, I wanted to start my PhD — I But I felt a new determi- These efforts prove running thread that keeps us all alive. found in only 31 populations in 23 coun- this is causing these animals to go ex- began going to the local villages to collect nation dawn. From that women can be One stitch — or one species — out of this tries. In over half of these countries, the tinct — the cheetah in the Horn of Af- data. One day, I saw a tree owner cutting the next day, I started key players in con- world breaks the thread. It threatens populations are under 100 individuals. rica is one example. There are laws down a nesting tree. Lying next to the my movement — I serving nature. But ecosystems and impacts us. Harming the I realised it was crucial to show people against this, but when you have a lot of tree were small hargila baby birds which spoke with tree they are often cheetah invites trophic cascade. This is that cheetah conservation isn’t just a money, you might think the laws don’t had fallen down from their nest. Some owners and local excluded from a top-down effect. The cheetah is a top moral imperative — it could also be a apply to you. So, we work to convince had died. I was very upset. I asked the communities. I un- decision-making. predator — it maintains the health of practical opportunity. We work in these people of the importance of letting man, why have you done this? He got ag- derstood how the Yet, women have a our ecosystems. The cheetah hunts and Namibia on human-wildlife conflict, wildlife live in the wild. I hope there will gressive and other men surrounded me, hargila was per- great deal of eats what it needs but then, it feeds the where people’s livestock are often eaten be a behavioural shift via younger people asking mockingly, ‘Will you come from ceived. I realised knowledge about rest of the ecosystem, like jackals, by cheetahs, which invites human ire. towards realising that nature must be in tomorrow to clean our houses of the there was a difference species and they can birds of prey, right But, as we point out, the cheetah would the wild, not in our backyard as a pet. debris these birds leave?’ ‘This bird is a between the conserva- be their voice. This is down to insects. rather hunt wildlife, which is what it’s I myself have been very close to a bad omen and it doesn’t need to live.’ tion of species which get even more important as Such top preda- naturally evolved with. People can there- cheetah called Khayam. She was born Courtesy: Purnima Devi Barman government support, the world faces a cri- tors support fore play a positive role by apportioning in Oregon at the wildlife park where I and the species which LOST IN THOUGHT: With wetlands sis of biodiversity. biodiversity. enough land to worked. My job was to find out if a cap- are dependent on local vanishing rapidly, the hargila But biodiversity lets Yet, when I support both tive-born cheetah like her could learn people’s goodwill. So, faces crushing habitat loss us exist — all our started working, livestock and to hunt in the wild. I brought Khayam starting a people’s resources come from to Namibia — and ended up staying here movement for the hargila was impor- nature and its diverse species. The web to teach her how to hunt. I taught her tant. I thought we should introduce the of life depends on maintaining space like a mother about which animals to bird as a symbol of cultural pride, show- for every species. If we break this web chase, where these are found and so on. casing the hargila in our rituals and of life, our children will have less and When I was given the opportunity to traditions. A famous conservationist less to live on. It is our duty to protect name the International Day of the Chee- told me, ‘But how can you do this? Only nature for them. tah, I chose the fourth of December, our forefathers could make traditions.’ I hope more people join conserva- Khayam’s birthday. However, I felt this was the only way. tion efforts. I want to tell women par- There is so much we can do to protect Our approach then integrated sci- ticularly to reject stereotypes that hold wildlife. My message to women especial- ence, tradition, outreach and partici- them back. We must sustain nature — ly who are interested in this is, don’t be pation. We campaigned to protect wet- and our own special identity. I’ve faced afraid — trust in yourself. Be ambitious land habitats for the hargila. We or- gender discrimination in my career. and be prepared, it’s a lot of work. And ganised women’s groups, where we But I stayed motivated, thinking that remember, conservation, while involving popularised the hargila as a symbol of nature had given me and other women A CHEETAH CALLED science and fieldwork, is also about poli- BIRD OF BEAUTY: Conservationists like well-being. And, linking economic ben- immense strength. Women can over- KHAYAM: Born in cy and business. Explore multiple ways Barman’s organisation, Aaranyak, efits to these birds, we taught women come the limitations which harm them captivity, Khayam to make the world sustainable for people encourage showcasing the hargila as a how to weave the hargila into our tra- or hurt nature. We are nature’s chil- eventually learned and nature — which keeps us all alive. symbol of regional and cultural pride ditional textiles. Eventually, women dren — and we owe this effort to her. to live in the wild