Prerna Singh Bindra gave up a lucrative career as an economist to fight for the wild

Previously: Economist; Currently: Author and conservationist

Priti Mahajan

Published: Aug 27, 2019 | 11:53:10 IST

To call Prerna Singh Bindra a conservationist would be grossly inadequate. Journalist, author and activist would also barely suffice. In fact, such is the evangelistic zeal with which she has committed herself to nature and wildlife that any attempt to put a label on her would be an exercise in futility. The only way to understand Bindra is to feel the intensity of her love for all animals, especially those under threat from the relentless progress of humans.
The bedrock of this love was a powerful but simple message from her mother: everyone, regardless of status or species, must be treated with compassion and respect. Proximity to animals from an early age was also instrumental in nurturing a sensitivity towards them—an introverted child, she was more comfortable in the company of animals, whether reading a book in the crook of a tree or visiting sanctuaries like Gujarat’s Gir Forest National Park and Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary. “Having dogs at home while growing up also helped,” she adds, “I was fiercely protective of them and all the animals that would show up around my home. Birds, langurs, mongooses, squirrels, even the odd snake. While everyone would be frazzled about their own safety, I would be worrying about the snake and yelling at everyone to leave it alone.”

Prerna Bindra has spotted leopards in the wild.

It was, therefore, not surprising that after working for a couple of years, Bindra left a potentially lucrative career (she graduated with a BA in Economics and Master’s in Labour Welfare, followed by research studies at IIM Ahmedabad) to dedicate herself to the newsroom and write on conservation. At the moment, she is pursuing her M Phil in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge. She recalls, “I was increasingly disturbed by the rapid transformation of my immediate environment. Apartments and malls were replacing open spaces and wetlands, neighbouring woods—the city’s lungs—were shaved to make way for a power station. A part of the Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary—where I saw my first wolf—was cut up to accommodate a cement plant. What confounded me most was the silence that surrounded this transgression, almost as if it wasn’t occurring. This deeply influenced me.” She takes her inspiration from Rachel Carson, who took on the pesticide industry and was instrumental in the banning of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and creation of the USA’s Environment Protection Agency (EPA).
Her own achievements over the last 12 years have been nothing short of inspirational. “I work to protect wildlife habitats, whether trying to bring in more areas under the Protected Area Network or preventing the destruction of existing ones. Sometimes I am able to make a difference,” she says modestly. “Through our work for the National Board for Wildlife’s Standing Committee, we were able to halt a destructive ropeway project through a nesting site of critically endangered long-billed vultures and a road through the only Indian nesting site of the greater and lesser flamingos. Both would have resulted in the likely extinction of these wonderful species.”
Another noteworthy success is the work she’s done with forest officials, rangers and NGOs in the creation of several Protected Areas, including Uttarakhand’s Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary and Naina Devi Himalayan Bird Conservation Reserve, a forest close to Nainital. There are many other species and habitats that she continues to battle for, and she has recently been in the news for filing a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court to stop the inhumane handling of the human-animal conflict and to grant elephants the right of passage between adjoining territories.
She is quick to add, rather philosophically, “Success in the conservation space can be ephemeral. The only way to make it lasting is to create awareness about the danger that our environment is in and to make every individual conscious of the fact that it is their job to save it. The only way to instil this consciousness in people, starting with children, is to make them develop a love and appreciation for nature and animals. Only when they fall in love with nature, will they fight for it.” It is, after all, her story, that she is hoping to replicate.
This story is part of our Girls Gone Wild series, which features six amazing women whose passion for the environment is truly inspirational

In This Story:

• Uttarakhand
• Wildlife
• Women
  
  https://www.cntraveller.in/story/prerna-singh-bindra-gave-lucrative-career-economist-fight-wild/