A man who works in a bakery in Howrah works tirelessly to protect the state animal. Another man, who makes bags in North 24-Parganas, leads a foundation that has rescued over 400 snakes across the state.
A bunch of such persons who do not wear a forester’s uniform but tirelessly strive for wildlife conservation will hog the centre stage at a programme in the city on Tuesday.
The programme, organised by an NGO that works for wildlife, aims to “pay tribute to the unsung heroes of conservation”.
One of the heroes is Sanjoy Seth, a 38-year-old man in a Howrah village, who works in a bakery unit in Dhulagarh. But his real calling are the wetlands.
Seth, who lives in Deulpur village in Panchla block, spends a bulk of his time spreading awareness about wetlands and their inhabitants, mainly the fishing cat, Bengal’s state animal.
Seth and his colleagues in the Panchla unit of Howrah Zilla Joutho Paribesh Mancha have rescued several fishing cats trapped in cages meant for pigs in and around Panchla.
The traps are laid to capture pigs because they damage crops.
Fishing cat, baghrol in Bengali, is included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and supposed to be the focus of highest conservation measures.
The nocturnal animal thrives in wetlands. The top predator in its habitat, fish is its favourite prey. Shrinking wetlands has dwindled their numbers and forces them to stray into human settlements and prey on fish and livestock.
Seth’s job at the Dhulagarh factory is not enough to sustain his family. His wife earns by weaving zari patterns on fabric.
“My wife often shouts at me for not thinking enough about my family. But I can’t help it. I have grown up around wetlands. My father and his father, they were farmers. I have grown up around fishing cats, snakes and other animals in the wetlands. To see them disappearing is very sad,” he said.
Also to be felicitated is the Bonding With Animals And Nature (BAN) Foundation, which has volunteers in North and South 24-Parganas, West Burdwan, Nadia, Malda, Murshidabad, Coochbehar and Alipurduar.
In the past year, volunteers of the foundation have rescued over 400 snakes, scores of civets and other animals.
The volunteers also supply to government hospitals and health centres learning materials and posters on dos and don’ts in case of snakebites.
“The recognition is also a responsibility. We hope we are up to it,” said Soumitra Roy, founder of BAN.
Nilanjan Mishra, co-founder of Madhuban, a group of beekeepers and farmers, will also be awarded on Tuesday.
Nilanjan Mishra aims to “promote sustainable bee keeping” in the Sunderbans and promote the famed honey of the mangrove delta across the country and beyond.
Tuesday’s programme, titled Bagh Dibas (Tiger Day), will be held at an auditorium inside the La Martiniere For Girls School. It is being organised by Society for Heritage and Ecological Research (SHER), a wildlife NGO, in association with the Prabha Khaitan Foundation.
The audience would be made up of students, teachers, forest personnel and others.
Herpetologist Anirban Chaudhuri, who has been working with the forest department to rescue and rehabilitate reptiles, small mammals and birds for over two decades, will also be among the awardees.
Rabindranath Banerjee, a retired forest ranger, would be recognized for his life’s work to protect wildlife.
“This year marks 50 years of Project Tiger. We don’t believe in celebrating conservation on one single day but every single day. We think conservation should be a part of our daily lives. Protecting the wetland near your house, protecting the banyan tree in your backyard, protecting a civet cat are also an integral part of conservation,” said Joydip Kundu of SHER.