Heart of Conservation

Rita is one of India's leading wildlife and environment filmmakers. In an in-depth interview, she speaks about her experience of filming wildlife over a career spanning over 20 years. She also highlights for us conservation issues regarding wildlife trade for example and speaks of her interactions with indigenous communities of the northeast, wildlife education programmes she initiated, including...

Hi, I'm Lalitha Krishnan. I ‘m speaking to Lisa Mills, program director at the Wildlife Conservation Enterprise Program at the University of Montana- Broader Impact Group. The University of Montana in partnership with The Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN), has released a science-based guide or standards for the certification of tea producers under the Certified Elephant Friendly™ Tea lab...

Hi, I'm Lalitha Krishnan. My guest is Aditi Mukherji: Principal Researcher at the International Water Management Institute. She is the coordinating lead author of the water chapter of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is to be published in 2021. In her previous job as the Theme Leader of the Water and Air theme at the International Cen...

Bhavna Menon is the Programme Manager at the Last Wilderness Foundation, an NGO that has been working in three prominent tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh in India. She has been working with LWF for the past nine years and is clearly passionate and convincingly articulate about why engaging with local communities, children and the forest department is a win-win to mitigate human-wildlife conflict a...

Almitra Patel is an environmental policy advocate and anti-pollution activist. Her Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court against the open dumping of municipal solid waste was instrumental in the drafting of the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rule in India. Her clean up Indian campaign started 20+ long years long before it hit our billboards. Listen to her fascinating story. Show notes...

SEASON TWO. For the first time, I'm interviewing an interesting young researcher-couple who are both experts in their fields. Pritha did her Ph. D. on the diversity patterns of the Geometridae family. Her doctoral work included the study of insect biodiversity loss due to anthropogenic disturbances in the western Indian Himalaya. My second guest is Pritha’s husband Rohit Chakravarty. He is a bat b...

For a person who would normally rather communicate through his photographs, in his first podcast-recording, Dhritiman Mukherjee, one of India’s most sought after wildlife photographers, opens up and speaks at length about his own perspectives and the process of his photography. Always lobbying for wildlife, he helps us understand several issues based on his experiences and personal knowledge of ov...

Otters are kept as pets. Can you imagine? They are a huge part of the illegal wildlife trade. I found out this and more at Wild Otters an otter-research based organization, tucked away in a corner of Chorao island in Goa. Listen to Ecologist and Director, Dr. Katrina Fernandez and Director and Chief of Communications, Kshitij Garg; Katrine Burford-Bradshaw and Shiri Lev and find out what they're d...

In episode # 9 of Heart ofConservation, I'm speaking with the young, talented Cara Tejpal. She describes herself as conservation generalist, who lends her skills to help confront the gamut of conservation challenges in India. She writes, fundraises, works on policy documents and develops campaigns under the umbrella of the Sanctuary Nature Foundation, while also heading their unique Mud on Boots P...

Sanjay Sondhi is responsible for discovering a new species - the Bompu Litter Frog. This frog discovered by Sanjay was previously unknown to science. Sanjay is as well known for his expertise on moths and butterflies and conducts workshops for the same. His nature column, Doon watch, in Hindustan Times and a column called Urban Nature Watch published in TERI's monthly magazine are both very popula...

Award-winning Ajay Rastogi, (Co-founder & Director of the Vrikshalaya Himalayan Centre, Uttarakhand, India) is an applied ethics practitioner, philosopher, and a yoga instructor. He tells why not just energy saving appliances but an almost 180-degree turnaround in attitude is crucial for saving the planet. He explains the science behind nature contemplation and why you don’t go into the forest wit...

Read Show Notes on earthymatters.blog Suniti is a consultant wildlife biologist, nature educator and author with multiple skills. He lives in Dehra Dun. I asked him why so many elephants are killed on the tracks in India. He tells us what it was like working under the legendary Papa John, Also, why it's crucial to create nature awareness and empathy among children. He speaks of his love for cyclin...

Read show notes on earthymatters.blog. Dr. Sejal Wohra recounts her journey as a woman conservationist through the years. She speaks frankly of the state of conservation in India, the fragility and challenges in the Himalayas and provides valuable insights on human-wildlife conflicts and other issues. She also shares some of her most unforgettable experiences around the world and of her pet projec...

You can read the whole show notes on earthymatters.blog. Dr. Dinesh speaks about the importance of treating injured adult turtles, the artificial flipper he created to enable physiotherapy to turtles and the impacts of pollution on sea life. He also tells us about the sea turtle species that get washed ashore, the dedication of volunteers, how creating awareness changed a community- where once the...

Vijay Dhasmana, well-known rewilder of ‘IAmGurgaon’ fame, has been hugely instrumental and successful in rewilding around 400 acres of wasteland ravaged by mining. This site is part of the Aravalli range on the edge of a millennium city, Gurgaon, near New Delhi. Vijay explains what rewilding is all about. He speaks about the challenges his team faced over 9 years, the strategies they used, the use...

Salvador Lyngdoh, Scientist-Wildlife Institute of India speaks about his work which focuses on conservation of large carnivores in the Indian Himalayas. He tells us why the two wolf species in India: the Himalayan wolf and the Indian/Plains wolf are unique in the wolf world. He delves into his experiences of radio-collaring wolves, the benefits of technology and explains in depth the conservation...

Dr. Pasang Sherpa speaks about her work, her love and concern for her people, how Sherpas are stereotyped, climate change in the Everest region(which is home for her) and on being a woman researcher and her future plans.