On 40 Years Of Writing On Wildlife: Bittu Sahgal

For World Wildlife Day, we had a chat with environmental stalwart Bittu Sahgal, who opened up about his 40-year-long journey writing and editing stories of the natural world. He is Founder-Editor of India’s first wildlife science magazine, Sanctuary Asia, which has been in production since 1981. At 77, Bittu is just as fervent about his message as the day he began his career.

Having persevered through rapid digital transformations over the decades, Bittu shares approaches and tools that helped shape Sanctuary’s legacy.

“We look at ourselves as proponents of climate stability, rather than focusing on any single species. With rationality on one hand and credibility in the other, Sanctuary is really a communications organisation,” he says.

The beginnings

In the early 1980s, Bittu recalls there were just 16 tiger reserves (compared to 54 today), and little was known about them. Stories in the first few editions of the magazine elaborated the basics – for instance, why was the tiger important for the survival of the forest? What were the animals you found in a tiger reserve?

Bittu took a step further to reach more people. “It wasn’t easy, but you work with the tools you have. We started a news service, where we made available our material free of cost to regional language newspapers. Word got out. They would take what we wrote and translate it for their audience. So we got a lot of physical noticeability,” he says.

A few years later, Sanctuary produced 30 wildlife documentaries which screened on Doordarshan for nearly a year. “They were more docu-dramas than documentaries. We reached 30 million people with those films, which screened every Sunday morning at 11 am and helped put wildlife on the agenda of India. Back then, nobody knew about or visited our tiger reserves, but our films sowed the seeds of wildlife tourism.”

The films were funded by sponsors that sought an advertisement on Doordarshan. “At the time, companies were willing to pay just to get an ad on Doordarshan, as it was watched by the whole country. We were able to support Sanctuary at the time because of the films.”

Assembling Kids for Tigers

In 2000, Sanctuary launched Kids for Tigers, its first venture outside of print, supported by Tiger biscuits. The project invoked a renewed fascination for the wild among children in 700 schools through environmental education. “It was actually an adult literacy programme where the children go back home and tell their parents, oh, you know, the rain falls on a forest, which sucks it up. It goes down into the aquifers and feeds the wells. The wells feed our farms, and the farms feed us. That was our rationale for why one should save the tiger,” says Bittu.

In the following decades, many milestones were crossed. Sanctuary launched the Mud on Boots project, a two-year funding grant for grassroots conservationists across India, who also receive customised support to tackle local issues from the Sanctuary team. The COCOON Conservancies project supports ethical ecotourism that uplifts the local economy. In 2017, the non-profit Sanctuary Nature Foundation was registered, to streamline funds for the work being done.

Strengthening credibility and raising funds

“There’s an old adage that you can’t walk into a room and sell a guy something that he doesn’t need. We convinced people it was in their best interest to save forests and rivers, without which no industry survives,” said Bittu, whose mission remains unwavering despite shifts in financial and geopolitical climates. “Nothing has changed since 1981 to today. One of the main reasons Sanctuary remains afloat is that we never sought to create a large bureaucracy. But of course, there were riots, border skirmishes, bomb blasts, financial meltdowns. I don’t think we’ve ever printed more than 30,000 copies of a Sanctuary edition, but we gave away copies to libraries, range officers, judges… and never missed a single issue,” added Bittu.

The magazine wasn’t the only output that served as proof of the Sanctuary team’s skills in print. “The magazine alone was never a money-spinner, so we diversified. We used our knowledge of print to create coffee table books and guide books, which helped pay salaries.” Two series of coffee table books have been published by Sanctuary so far. Filled with striking photographs and insight into several of India’s biodiverse states and national parks, many of these have become become prized occupants on readers’ bookshelves.

Bittu takes the power of constantly interacting with the community seriously. Every year, Sanctuary hosts events that inspire and amplify the work of others – awarding talented wildlife photographers and those who have excelled as wildlife conservationists (be it activists, ecologists, researchers or educators). These events also naturally function as a platform for learning and collaboration. “I would give talks about our work frequently, and met one of our major funders through one such talk. Our own events – the Wildlife Service Awards – brought in sponsors too,” recalls Bittu.

He highlights the importance of building credibility in order to maintain a steady flow of support and funds. “The very first thing about building credibility is that you must be trusted with what you’re saying. Explain the rationale without malice. When you use the truth as a hammer, that becomes as good as not telling the truth,” says Bittu.

(Published under Creative Commons from Mongabay India. Read the original article here)