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Man and Nature

It is important to emphasize that a wide range of views about nature and the severity of the current environmental crisis is highly alarming. There are issues like climate change due to global warming, groundwater depletion, holes in the Ozone layer, destruction of rainforests, extinction of species, and a sharp decline of biodiversity. Most of these alarming situations are established by human attitude and their reckless behaviour. We should realize that these environmental problems adversely affect the human population as well.

 

Shrinking Lungs

Forest Fire

Nowadays forest-fires and deforestation occur worldwide just like a regular phenomenon. Deforestation is a particular concern in tropical rain forests because these forests are home to most of the world’s biodiversity. Take the case of the world’s largest rainforest Amazon, it has been deprived of around 17% of its lush wilderness in the last 60 years, mostly due to forest fire, monoculture, mining, and illegal logging. Deforestation in this region is particularly rampant near more populated areas, roads, and riverine, but even remote areas have been encroached upon when valuable mahogany, minerals, and oil are discovered. As per the report from WWF, the world’s most ecologically important forest landscapes, including forest homes for orangutans, tigers, and elephants will suffer cataclysmic damage or loss (of about 80 percent) globally by 2030, Up to 420 million acres of forest could disappear between 2010 and 2030 in these “deforestation fronts” if current trends continue. The hot spots are located around the Amazon, the Atlantic Forest and Gran Chaco, Borneo, the Cerrado, Choco-Darien, the Congo Basin, East Africa, Eastern Australia, Greater Mekong, New Guinea, and Sumatra in Indonesia.

 

Wood Logging

I want to emphasize the damages which are created by a human being. The photos exhibit deforestation, illegal mining, and rainforest depletion, Destroying the biodiversity by illegal landfills and encroachment, Plastic waste is the biggest threat across the globe, wildfire for monocultures like palm and rubber plantations, habitat loss of wild animals, and kind gesture of Orangutan towards humanity.

 

Encroachment

Plastic Waste

 

Illegal Mining

Deforestation

 

Helping Hand: A glimpse of an unforgettable moment

Going out in the woods and taking pictures during leisure time is a passion; I love to grab lovely moments from the life of wild animals without disturbing them or their natural habitats. Recently I chanced to behold a spectacular sight during a safari at BOSF survival forest; an Orangutan challenged the humanity in me.

The biggest fear of the orangutans in the jungle is the poisonous snakes. BOSF Warden’s main task in the Conservation Forest is to clean up rivers; in case of any report about snakes or predators, the warden should remove and relocate them to appropriate places where they ideally belong and secure the orangutan’s habitat.

 

Homeless Orangutan

 

I witnessed an unusual incident during my trekking in the survival forest. We were trekking near the island forest and were on the other side of the river, and we had a Wildlife Guard guiding us. He was explaining the typical characteristics and other important features of Orangutan and BOSF activities. Suddenly I noticed another Wildlife Guard plunge into the muddy river.

I asked the Wildlife Guard, who was with me, what was happening there and he replied that the warden was doing the regular maintenance work. Usually, the Guards get into the river to catch the snakes if any, hiding behind the bushes and along the banks of the river, as the poisonous snakes might brumate behind them. While the warden was doing his job, I noticed one female orangutan go closer to the river bank and started watching amusingly what the Guard was doing. I clicked a few close-up photos of an orangutan. The Guard kept searching for snakes and cleaning the river banks, though he seemed to struggle moving his legs on the muddy floor of the river, as far as I could perceive. He kept trying to pull out his legs and wanted to move further, and suddenly the female Orangutan who quietly remained as a spectator got up and came closer and stretched one of her hands towards the guard as if she were offering assistance to get out of the thick mud. This might have lasted about three to four minutes. I was really amazed at this unexpected, sweet gesture from the orangutan. Somehow, I managed to fix my camera and capture this heartwarming, unique moment and could get four frames of the event. Unfortunately, the wildlife guard declined her kind gesture and managed to move away from the orangutan.

 

Let me help you? : Once Humanity is dying in Mankind, sometime animals are guiding us back to our basics.

 

After the completion of his work, the guard got out of the river and came towards us. Then I asked him curiously why he didn’t accept the orangutan’s offer. He said she was still ‘wild’ and he couldn’t predict how they would react. Moreover, there are strict guidelines for the staff to avoid unwanted interaction with them, since it might end up with hazardous circumstances sometimes adversely affecting the safety of the orangutan and putting them in peril. Above all, they keep the animals so that they adopt more of their original, wild nature and bring back to the main rainforests in Borneo Island. Since these apes were rescued from the forest fire, hunting, habitat loss due to deforestation, they were brought here for medication, as they suffered from the trauma or serious wounds or burns as a consequence of the calamities or cruelties by mankind. Once BOSF treats these animals and they’re found fit to be back to the wilderness with strength, they will be released in the jungle. This is the great service that BOSF is doing for the survival of the critically endangered species.

 

 

 

The irony is, we, the human beings are destroying their habitat, yet they are offering a helping hand towards us. The world is inhabited by us, humans, who aren’t willing to care for each other, our minds filled with selfishness, ego, and animosity gathering up like venom. So we should seriously brood over this grave depravity and try to seek what makes us different from the animals, the power of reasoning, and the inherent virtue called “humanity” and protect our values and our nature for posterity. I still believe this is the only true, ultimate hope for mankind.

About the Author /

An Indian conservation photographer native from Kerala, Anil currently lives and works in Indonesia, He has been doing photography in a wide range of aspects. Recently published photo book called " The Beauty and Bleakness of Mount Bromo". His photographs have been showcased in several international Galleries like "Kontrast Galleri" in Stockholm, Valid "World Hall" in Barcelona, and few Indian galleries.

Comment(1)

  • Sajeev Kumar Krishnan

    December 1, 2020

    So sad to see the reality. Where the greed will take the humanity?

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