Ramnagar (Uttarakhand) [India], October 8 (ANI): From an early morning bird and tree walk to conversations on Himalayan ecology, Pahadi food, wildlife photography, urban wildlife and responsible tourism, Day 2 of Corbett Literature Festival brought together historians, conservationists, photographers, food historians, journalists and storytellers to look at the many ways people are connected to nature.
The festival explored the forests, rivers, wildlife and communities that make up the larger landscape beyond the tiger.
At the session 'Jeevan Daayi Himalaya: Nature, People and a Changing Landscape', Dr Pathak, Padma Shri awardee Anup Sah, in conversation with moderator Sushil Bahuguna, explored the deep connections between the Himalayas, rivers, forests and human communities.
Pathak described the Himalayas as far more than a geographical formation, pointing to their geological, ecological, cultural and social significance. He said the Himalayas account for less than half a per cent of the world's geography but represent around 10 per cent of its biodiversity, calling them a "living heritage" facing a deepening crisis.
He also underlined that the Himalayas are not only the concern of mountain communities but of the plains as well.
"The Himalaya is as much of the plains as it is of the people of the mountains," Pathak said, stressing that protecting the Himalayas is equally the responsibility of people living in the plains.
Turning the conversation closer to Corbett, he highlighted the interconnectedness of the Kosi and Ramganga watersheds with the lives of pastoralists, farmers, tourism businesses and communities downstream.
He argued that the Corbett landscape should not be viewed only through the prism of its tiger population.
"Jim Corbett is not just a tiger reserve. Jim Corbett is a very vibrant representation of biodiversity," he said, adding that the entire biodiversity of a landscape needs to be protected.
Pathak also urged greater attention to elephant corridors and the impact of unscientific construction, roads and tunnelling on fragile mountain ecosystems.
"The real wilderness has been lost," he said, stressing the need to protect what cannot simply be recreated or planted.
From forests, the conversation moved to kitchens with food historian and Padma Shri awardee Pushpesh Pant, who explored Uttarakhand's culinary traditions in 'Pahadi Bhaddu: Tales, Traditions and the Flavours of Uttarakhand'.
Hosted by Ayu Tripathi, the session connected regional ingredients, slow cooking, folklore and food memories, before continuing over a Kumaoni lunch that brought the conversation to the table.
In the session, 'With a Camera in Tigerland: The Wild Through the Lens'. Conservationist and writer Prerna Singh Bindra opened the session with the pioneering Corbett photography of FW Champion before joining photographers Akash Das and Anup Sah for a discussion moderated by Avni Tripathi.
Explaining his minimalist wildlife photographs, Akash Das said he deliberately keeps the animal small within a larger frame because the habitat tells viewers how the animal lives.
"If we forget what the habitat is and show only the head-on shot of an animal, it could be anywhere," he told ANI.
For Das, the wider landscape also becomes a way of encouraging conservation.
"If the tiger is so small in my big canvas, the tiger is still my hero," he said, explaining that such images allow viewers to connect with both the animal and the forest around it.
He also recalled a tense encounter with a mother elephant and a days-old calf, when his camera hood touched the baby and the mother reacted. The experience reinforced for him the need for wildlife photographers to remain unobtrusive.
He said photographers need to minimise noise, movement and even their visual and scent presence around animals.
"We don't move... so that the animal should feel that this person is not going to do anything to me," he said.
His larger message, however, was about moving beyond the obsession with the tiger.
"All the animals are a cycle," Das said, explaining that species are interconnected and that protecting one species in isolation is not enough.
"If we protect everyone... we have to protect the whole forest," he said, urging people to respect not only animals but also "plants, trees and rivers".
The broader understanding of wildlife continued in 'Wild Neighbours: Living with Wildlife in Urban Landscapes', where Rocky Singh joined conservationist and author Neha Sinha and conservationist-author Sanjay Gubbi to discuss how increasingly expanding cities can coexist with wildlife.
Sinha, whose work explores the relationship between nature and urban spaces, pointed out that as cities grow, nature and wildlife cannot simply be treated as something outside the urban experience.
"Cities are growing in number around the world and more people are going to come and live in cities in the future as well," she said, stressing the need to talk about wildlife and nature within urban spaces.
She also highlighted the importance of blue and green spaces in cities, saying urban residents increasingly need access to nature to relieve stress and improve their quality of life.
The conversation then moved to tourism with journalist and author Abhilash Khandekar, Dr Saket Badola and Anirudh Lakhotia in 'Treading Lightly: Tourism in Fragile Landscapes', which examined how tourism can create meaningful experiences without damaging the very landscapes on which it depends.
Saket Badola, Field Director, Corbett Tiger Reserve, said in a statement, "The Himalayas and forests face tremendous pressures."
He added that the day's discussions, from photographs showcasing the landscape to conversations around responsible tourism and human-wildlife coexistence, pointed towards one central lesson.
"Protecting the wild begins with respecting it," he said, stressing that cultures have traditionally regarded forests as sacred and that they must be treated with reverence.
The day closed with Frame by Frame: Extraordinary Encounters in the Wild, an immersive visual journey through the encounters and conservation philosophy of acclaimed nature photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee, moderated by Puneet Bali.
The final day on October 8 will feature sessions on wildlife photography, natural history, conservation, the Ganga and Ramganga rivers and nature writing, before the festival concludes with a gala dinner featuring live music and live painting.
The inaugural Corbett Literature Festival, '3 Days in the Wild', is being held from October 6 to 8 and brings together more than 30 writers, conservationists, historians, photographers and storytellers. (ANI)
Nature in many frames: Corbett Literature Festival brings together stories of wildlife, food and people
