Hi Friends,
It's been quite a while since ‘The Creepy Times' was out and around. I have been awfully busy with work and studies – not to mention winning Young Naturalist Awards…Ah yes… Aaron Lobo and I were awarded two er… awards for our work with snakes and conservation.
The award was given to us by Sanctuary Magazine in coordination with ABN-AMRO bank. Both of us are very happy to receive it.
To give you a gist of the award, awardees, and ceremony I am including an article written by good friend Ethel D'Costa. Only she carried our names in a lifestyle magazine ‘Groove' of which she is the editor.
The other papers were too busy with the Film Festival and filming Bollywood actors to find space for our mugs in their newspapers!
Other than the young naturalist awards there were also lifetime service awards and a green teacher award. The other winners were all very nice people and I think if would be great if you knew about them as well!
There is not much space for me to include information on them as well. But you could read about them and the awards by clicking on www.sanctuaryasia.com
Goa 's snake charmers
People can make a difference. This simple truth is often ignored amidst the confusion and problems that beset the world today.
I'm a nature buff, as close as time and space permits. But nature conservation is serious business, involving a passion for hard work and commitment, as Rahul Alvares and Aaron Lobo know too well. The duo got into the spotlight this week winning the `Young Naturalist Award 2004' at a glittering function held at the NCPA, Mumbai, for their efforts to protect Goa's vanishing wildlife. For us at `Groove, ' and indeed Goa , it is a proud moment.
On a personal note, Rahul does me proud as a buddy in music, aspiration and goals. Calls for a celebratory rock concert, Rahul.
Supported by ABN Amro and Sanctuary Magazine, the idea of the Wildlife Awards began in 2000, to recognise the efforts of individuals working to protect India 's vanishing wildlife and hence bring the wildlife defenders into the public gaze. Each year, four young naturalists are chosen from entries (750 this year) all over the country through vote or nomination. The laurels since have been many. But this is a first for Goa a nd a double whammy at that.
Nursing a viral cold but jubilant nevertheless, Rahul shares the experience as "Great. I met so many new people including actor Rahul Bose who emceed the show." A naturalist, author and snake expert all in one, Rahul's rescue work with snakes and turtle conservation at Morjim is well known. Currently doing his MSc in ecology and environment, his writing on wildlife and website `Creepy Times' has a fan following of its own.
Aaron Lobo is a cool dude and obsessed with snakes too, particularly sea snakes. A one-year dissertation on the distribution and status of snakes in coastal Goa won him a scholarship to do his M.Sc. in Wildlife Science from the Wildlife Institute of India. A six-month study to estimate the diversity and mortality of sea snakes in Goa won him the respect of India 's finest wildlife conservation biologists and an award from the University of Cambridge . He has worked on the ecology of the dog-faced water snake in the Sálim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Goa and will be soon starting work in the Gulf of Mannar , studying the area's sea snake population and the threats they face. Together, they serve as examples of the power of youth and dedication to a cause that is Goa 's wildlife. Could we have more youth fire from the rest please? Well done, boys.
By Ethel Da Costa
My Contact Information:
Rahul Alvares, Almeida Vaddo, Parra, Bardez, Goa - 403510
Email: [email protected] [email protected] / [email protected]
Phone:
91-832-2278740 _______________ 0832-3115883
Also, visit my Website: www.geocities.com/rahulsnakesite
The image of a Small Green Bee-eater hawking an insect in mid-flight won our vote for its symmetry, composition and technical quality. This bee-eater was captured on film in a forest on the outskirts of Bangalore city. Nature's wonders are on display in our own backyard, if we only pay attention.
SECOND PRIZE: ‘Cicada Transformation' – Hira Punjabi
The photographer spotted this cicada while wandering the forests of Matheran at dusk. Entranced, he recorded this spectacle on film, using a torch to overcome the darkness. The perfect lighting brings out the exquisite turquoise hue of the cicada as it emerges from its moult.
THIRD PRIZE: ‘Life and Death' – N.K. Arun Kumar
This tigress is dragging its chital kill to the bushes where, the photographer informs us, its hungry cubs were waiting. The female had killed the deer in the morning and stood guard over it for the entire day. The big cat can be seen keeping a wary eye on the photographer's jeep as it makes its way back to its young.
Lifetime Service Award
K.M. Chinnappa
The name K.M. Chinnappa is synonymous with wildlife conservation in Karnataka. For close to 30 years he has battled to protect the Nagarahole National Park from poachers and other vested interests. Over the years he has established, an effective system of anti-poaching patrols and virtually eliminated poaching in the central parts of Nagarahole. For his uncompromising defence of wildlife he was harassed, arrested on false charges and even had his home burnt, ultimately causing him to retire from the service. In spite, he continued for his to battle and has spearheaded a successful campaign against government timber logging inside Protected Areas. Ironically, Chinnappa is again the target of a vilification campaign, caused by his efforts to stop mining in the Kudremukh National Park and the removal of timber from wildlife reserves. False cases have been filed against him, but K.M. Chinnappa battles on regardless.