An inspiring flight

Pune may boast of a rich biodiversity but will this wealth remain intact? This is the question that Prabhakar Kukdolkar,

Pune may boast of a rich biodiversity but will this wealth remain intact? This is the question that Prabhakar Kukdolkar,assistant conservator of forests,Forest Department,Maharashtra,asks aloud. Kukdolkar,for his part,has been consistently contributing to this cause and his latest objective is to spread awareness about bird species and stress on their conservation through his book – Punyache Pakshi Vaibhav (Birds of Pune).

To mark World Forestry Day (March 21),city-based Natural Resources Conservators Organisation (NRCO) will release Kukdolkars book today at the Patrakar Bhavan Auditorium,Navi Peth. The book has more than 400 photographs shot by me in this last one year. I have photographed 150 bird species found in and around Pune. While most have been within a 30-km radius,I have also traveled as far as Bhimashankar and Lonavla-Khandala to get the pictures, the wildlife expert says.

From the English,Marathi,scientific names to the place and date of the pictures,the book has all essential details. Birds look different when theyre adults and even during the breeding and non-breeding stages. I wanted to bring out these differences, says Kukdolkar,who started shooting as soon as he procured a 500 mm lens.

In 1984,Kukdolkar got trained in wildlife management from Dehradun and even did a one-year course in photography from Fergusson College,Pune. He is an experienced hand at managing situations of man-animal conflict. According to the 1988 forest policy,forests cannot be protected and conserved unless more number of people get involved. There are 62,000 sq km of forest around Pune and only 10,000 or 15,000 field staff. Add to that the encroachments,political interference and land mafia. Todays concretisation has ruined birds’ habitat; in the wada culture,people were kind to birds.

Kukdolkar hopes the book will inspire people to take a keener interest in the lives of natures winged creatures. I want Pune to be known as a city of nature lovers.

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