GREEN WARS

What is more important building a modern airport in rural Uttar Pradesh or conserving the shrinking habitat of the sarus cranes? Producing more palm oil or protecting the orang-utan? Do we allow the destruction of pristine forests with their rich flora and fauna so we can generate much-needed hydel power?
A modernizing economy brings in i...

BAHAR DUTT is a conservation biologist and environment journalist and the winner of over ten national and international awards. Her news reports helped halt the construction of an illegal shopping mall on the Yamuna riverbed and an illegal mine in Goa. She took on the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who wanted to drain wetlands inhabited by sarus cranes for an airstrip (and won a Wildscreen - Green Oscar - award in the process). Bahar has run an animal ambulance for injured primates helped build rope bridges for the colobus monkey in Africa studied a troop of Amazonian monkeys at the world-famous Jersey Zoo in the UK and worked for over a decade with a traditional community of snake charmers helping them fi nd livelihood options in tune with wildlife laws. Her reportage has pushed the boundaries of environment journalism from an obscure segment on the daily news to prime time television.Broadcaster writer and closet baker she now lives a more ordinary life in New Delhi with her husband and dog Musibat.