Kalyani admiring the grand and beautiful Sahayadri mountain range running along the western coast of India. The Western Ghats is one of the top 5 biodiversity hotspots in the world and comprises about 6% of India's landmass. But it is home to 30% of all animal, plant, and insect life of India. Extending from Gujarat to Kerela, it is home to 508 species of birds, 157 species of reptiles, 126 species of amphibians, 137 species of mammals, and 218 species of fish and several of the above are endemic. Truly a global treasure and my home... I have always considered the western ghats as my home, living in a city that is in the midst of the ghats. However the mountains, forests, and wildlife of the range are suffering and are stressed. There is severe fragmentation all along the ghats with no corridors between poorly protected areas restricting movement and ecosystem exchanges. This is causing isolation and extinction for several species of plant, animal, and insect life. It is also leading to the loss of ancient tribal cultures of the ghats as industries begin encroaching upon their forests and lands. Kalyani is from the organization called Saha Astitva ( http://thankindia.org/). The aim of this organization is the integration of fields, forests, and people. They hope to create corridors and buffer zones around several fragmented parts in the northern Western Ghats. Their hope is to work together with the Warli tribe in their village and begin the conservation and protection process. As an alternate means of livelihood, they wish to provide the tribal farmers with training and employment in organic farming. The interdependence and integration of people, forests, and fields is the key answer to our rapidly deteriorating lives on earth. During my time with Saha Astitva, I had the opportunity to meet several amazing people such as Mr. Bhaskar Save the father of natural farming in India and contemporary of the late Fukuoka of One Straw Revolution. Save's definition of natural farming, "If you can farm without harming the air, soil, water, plant kingdom, animal kingdom, and micro-organisms, then that is natural farming." I also met a couple of honest forest department officials that helped challenge my cynical assumptions about the corrupt forest department. However I was not very wrong. Mr. Thatte, the owner of another NGO working on similar issues helped me understand the Forest Laws. He explained that when the British were in India their Forest Law stated under its heading, "For the movement of timber." The forest dept. under the British was mainly to cut the forest as they felt and when needed. Our current forest department seems to still be under the influence of this old laws as can be seen by their atrocious activities. Apart from meeting forest dept. officials, I also was deeply moved by working with the owners of Saha Astitva who are foreigners but care more about the forests of India than most Indians. Other activities during my time at Saha Astitva included riding on top of jeeps, sleeping on top of a mountain with roaring winds, meeting holy sadhus and babas, riding an Enflield bike and lots more... Thanks Saha Astitva for an amazing month full of things that I would have taken a lifetime to experience. Photos: http://emotionallandscapes.weebly.com/photography.html
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