Bahar Dutt: 'Conservation can boost the economy'

The Hill Myna of Meghalaya, often captured as pets for their unqiue ability to mimic human voice. PICS COURTESY/Vijay Bedi and Ajay Bedi

Our conversation with environment journalist Bahar Dutt swings from one branch to another before landing, quite fittingly, on the langurs. We have a good chuckle about the ‘langur whisperers' recently hired by the BWF World Badminton Championship in New Delhi to keep macaques away from their stadiums. Fittingly, because Dutt's new series Shared Spaces, shot by her partner Vijay Bedi, talks exactly about this: the intersection of wildlife and human life on this pale blue dot we call home.

Bahar Dutt with a dead Bull Shark in Andhra Pradesh

Produced by The Habitats Trust and Bedi Universal, the series is telecasted on Animal Planet. We caught a few glimpses of the series before catching up with the duo.

Excerpts from the interview.

The teaser of Shared Spaces is reminiscent of the wildlife documentaries every child grew up watching. Was this style of storytelling intentional?
Bahar Dutt: To be honest, I was fed up with the Western ‘natural history' format that often views the wild from a sterile lens. I was keen on stepping in and shining a light on the complex interface of wildlife and the communities that co-exist with them in India. Vijay gave these stories the visual style that might strike viewers as cinematic.

Vijay Bedi and (left) Ajay Bedi

Vijay Bedi: There had to be a balance. A purely scientific approach would've bored the viewer. One of the more interesting sequences is that of two Salamanders mating in Darjeeling. My brother Ajay added a gripping ballet score in the background for dramatic effect.

The series is the culmination of three years of documentation. How did you chart out this journey?
BD: As a journalist, I was accustomed to knowing where a story awaits me. For this project, we spent the first eight months only talking to people; communities, scientists, conservationists. We realised that India is unique in its challenges. A road is allowed to cut right through natural habitat. How do the local communities feel about this? Do they see an elephant in their backyard as God or does it scare them? We sought answers along the way.

The Hoolock Gibbon in Assam

I'm sure you came across some interesting stories with this approach...
BD: Speaking of communities, we unearthed some unlikely heroes. The Hill Myna of Meghalaya has historically fallen prey to the pet trade for its unique ability to mimic human voices. We learnt that a local village head had turned custodian, turning traditional traps into artificial nests. In Assam, we met a villager who had maintained a meticulous record of Hoolock Gibbons, even giving them names at birth.

The rare Bugun liocichla in Arunachal Pradesh, named after the Bugun tribe (right) a Salamander in the mood to find a mate

VB: As a lensman, there were moments where I took a step back from the viewfinder and soaked in the landscape, the people, and their stories. One that stays with me is the long 12-hour wait to spot the rare Bugun bird of Arunachal Pradesh. It revealed itself for a few fleeting seconds. Once it flew away, I stepped back and watched it flutter into the wild.

Bahar, you've always maintained that politics is intrinsically tied with the environment. Did the interactions lead to any new observations on how politics might affect conservation in the future?
BD: Although it falls outside the purview of Shared Spaces, it's a pertinent question. I'll say this: Politics, when played right, can aid conservation. We need to understand that conservation can boost the economy, which isn't all about money. Cleaner rivers and thick forests mean lower air pollution and better quality of life, which is vital for an economy to prosper.

While the longform format of the series will intrigue those who are already in love with nature, are we forgetting the new-age Gen Z, who prefer things short?
BD: We were lucky that Animal Planet stepped in for the project, because it means that our stories are amplified to a larger audience, including short form content that is being posted on Instagram. Shared Spaces is also being telecasted in regional languages like Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.

That being said, I strongly believe that younger audiences can still value longform content if it is relatable. Gen Z is hungry for solutions, and our job now is to platform these solutions in a way that speaks to them.

Available on: Animal Planet