Wetland and mangrove birds now forage among plastic waste in urban areas because their natural habitats are all but gone.
Wetlands are a crucial component of Kerala’s forest-to-sea ecological continuum. With 44 rivers, the State’s geography is deeply linked with water, and wetlands are a critical part of this interconnected landscape. Yet the wetlands are under severe threat from construction-related activities, encroachment, and waste dumping—a common fate of wetlands not just in Kerala but all over India and the world.
The destruction spells danger as much for humans as for other life forms, which we hardly care about given the anthropocentric focus of our imagination and development plans. The authorities cannot usually be less bothered about the loss or irreversible damage to the natural habitats of birds and animals.
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Globally, mangroves are disappearing at a rate of 1 to 2 per cent per year. In Kerala, the loss is severe, with the State having lost nearly 98 per cent of its mangrove forests in the last 50 years. Most of us do not even know about the annihilation happening in our backyard.
Many of the images of wetlands we see on social media are digitally manipulated. Plastic and other wastes, sometimes whole buildings, are erased from the frames to enhance their aesthetic appeal. If the images had been true to reality, what we would have seen reflected in the waters are not blue skies or fluffy clouds but concrete buildings and smoke-belching industrial units. The sanitised images do us a disservice by leaving us unaware of the deterioration of once-pristine habitats.
The issue of polluted wetlands cannot just be a tiny snippet of local news. The pollution will eventually lead to freshwater scarcity, affecting human lives. If the plight of birds and animals fails to move us, this possibility should.
One of the most severely threatened rivers in Kerala is the Kakkad: this once-vibrant waterway, a tributary of the Pamba, now exists mostly in people’s memories. Looking at the river today—when it has dried up in large patches—it is hard to believe that boats full of cargo and passengers used to ply the river in the not-so-distant past. With its banks chock-a-block with schools, warehouses, factories, taxi stands, and shopping centres, the river is dying. Kakkad is a good example of how to kill a river. The birds of Kakkad now live among garbage dumps.
This photo story is about birds we coexist with; they are all around us, even in busy cities, but we fail to notice them most of the time. They are also hidden behind piles of waste. For instance, the the common sandpiper, once ubiquitous in freshwater wetlands, now forages among cement bags and plastic wrappers. The oriental darter—which, with its long, snake-like neck, could be easily spotted in large water bodies—is now placed in the “near threatened” category in the list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. If we see it at all, we see it against a backdrop of water choked with debris. That birds have been forced to adapt themselves to the polluted urban environment is a sad commentary on the current reality.
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By giving us a raw, unedited perspective on the current condition of our wetlands, these photographs should give us an idea of what lies ahead for our environment and warn us of the future we are creating for ourselves.
Prasoon Kiran has been a photojournalist for over six years, working with newspapers and magazines. His photographs have been featured on the covers of Mathrubhumi Weekly. At present, he leads the visual department at The Malabar Journal.
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