During childhood, he would watch the Great Indian bustards in the grasslands near his home in a small village close to Solapur city in Maharashtra. At that time, he was completely unaware of their sad plight. By the time he grew up and acquired the knowledge and experience to help these birds, they had disappeared from the area. Although disheartened at the loss, he was determined to save the last of these birds and other bustard species – and hence, left home to settle in Rajasthan, the last stronghold of the critically endangered Great Indian bustards and lesser floricans in the world.
Today, Dr. Sujit Shivaji Narwade is working hard to save the great Indian bustards and two other highly threatened bustard species – the lesser florican and the Bengal florican. As the Deputy Director and the lead of the Bustard and Florican Program of BNHS, he works with a team of driven and passionate individuals to conserve these species. Hence, this article is dedicated to Sujit and his work on these vanishing birds of India.
Landing Into The World Of Conservation
Sujit had to overcome many barriers to become a successful wildlife researcher. He came from a less-privileged farming family living in the tiny village of Masla Khurd in Maharashtra’s Dharashiv District, which is located at the foothills of Balaghat Range and is blessed by Goddess Tulja Bhavani. Sujit lost his father at the tender age of one. Yet, his mother ensured he got a quality education, and good-hearted people supported him on his educational journey. So, he completed his undergraduate and post-graduate courses in Zoology and a diploma in Bioinformatics with flying colours.
“Unlike many others in the field of conservation, my entry to this field happened much later. I never had anyone to guide me or introduce me to conservation. However, after my post-graduation, I understood what my true calling was and coming from a farming background, it was easy for me to connect to the world of wildlife,” said Sujit.
So, after a brief stint at a job involving molecular modelling, in 2004, he got a position as an information officer at the BNHS ENVIS Centre on Avian Ecology (today, ENVIS, or Environmental Information System, has been renamed to EIACP, or Environmental Information, Awareness, Capacity Building, and Livelihood Programme). Thus, he joined the BNHS-ENVIS office in the Hornbill House in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
With little knowledge of conservation research, in the initial years, Sujit spent a lot of time visiting the BNHS library to read extensive volumes of research publications, write literature reviews, and create databases.
As his understanding of conservation grew, so did his desire to delve deeper into it. Hence, he approached the then Director of BNHS, Dr. Asad Rahmani, requesting to enrol for a Ph.D. degree. However, Dr. Rahmani sent him back, mentioning that he needed more experience to be a Ph.D. scholar.
A New Step In The Right Direction
Sujit then resigned from BNHS in 2007 to gain some real research experience. He went to his native place, where, with the help of support from a local college, he started a small research project, studying the breeding success of the red-wattled lapwing.
“It was my first field research work involving a ground-nesting bird lacking a hind toe, similar to the Great Indian bustard. However, unlike the bustard, the red-wattled lapwing is a commonly found species. I studied this bird’s breeding and nesting ecology for months, primarily in a small area near my family’s farmland and published two scientific papers related to my work,” said Sujit.
With renewed vigour, he returned to BNHS in 2008, this time in a higher position as the In-Charge of the BNHS ENVIS Centre on Avian Ecology. It took him two more years to finally get approval from Dr. Rahmani, and he then enrolled for Ph.D. at the University of Mumbai with the topic “Status, distribution, habitat use and conservation of grassland birds in Solapur and adjoining areas.”
By the time Sujit submitted his thesis in 2016, which included studying the great Indian bustards, only around five of these birds were left in his study area.
“It was extremely painful for me. I felt I had failed the bird. As a local resident and BNHS researcher, and one closely connected to the local community, maybe I could have done more,” mentioned Sujit.
However, instead of giving up, he became even more determined to conserve the species.
Impactful Work In Wildlife Research And Conservation
In 2016-17, Sujit got involved in conducting the pan-India lesser florican surveys with the collaboration of the WII, TCF and the forest departments of all range states of the bird. During this time, he truly understood the gravity of the situation and the major issues pushing the bustards to the brink in India. He was then clear about what to do next.
“Working in Mumbai was not going to help. I needed to be where the birds were – to do something concrete for their conservation,” said Sujit.
So, he approached Dr. Deepak Apte, the then Director of BNHS, with the proposal of setting up a BNHS base in Rajasthan to study and conserve the Great Indian bustards and the lesser floricans.
“Initially, funding was a major issue. However, after my presentation at a meeting of BirdLife International in the United Kingdom, we received considerable support to launch our new initiative,” mentioned Sujit.
With funding support from BirdLife International and a small grant from the Rajasthan Forest Department, it was time to act.
In 2019, a small BNHS team led by Dr. Sujit Narwade started conducting surveys for lesser floricans in the Shokaliya grasslands in the Ajmer District of Rajasthan for the local forest department. Their survey helped show that the birds still existed in the area and prevented the mining industry from destroying the grasslands.
“We also proposed setting up a conservation reserve in the grasslands to protect the habitat of the critically endangered lesser floricans. In 2023, the Rajasthan government declared the creation of the Lesser Florican Conservation Reserve, covering 931 hectares. That was a major win for us,” said Sujit.
After setting up base in Ajmer and achieving some success in lesser florican conservation, he went on to find a way to explore conservation strategies to protect the Great Indian Bustards in the Jaisalmer District of Rajasthan.
He started conducting field visits with his team member Dr. Neelkanth Bora, in the unprotected grasslands of the Thar Desert near Pokharan town, where a small population of these birds is found.
A staunch believer in community involvement in conservation, he also met local community members like Kamlesh Bishnoi from Khetolai and Sevaram Mali from Khichan, Phalodi, to exchange ideas and garner support for the conservation of Great Indian Bustard and other wildlife in the Thar Desert. He also involved Pankaj Bishnoi and Sachin Bishnoi from the Bishnoi community of Khetolai village as BNHS’s Community Engagement Officers.
“I found the local communities of Rajasthan, especially the Bishnois, extremely helpful. Unlike several other parts of India where I worked, I found convincing these people to protect their wildlife was really not needed. They were already convinced. They just wanted a way to be a part of the solution, and we provided them just that,” said Sujit.
So, Sujit and his team built a grassland reserve in Khetolai on land owned by the Bishnoi people with their permission. The team worked to restore the degraded land by removing the exotic invasive species and planting native grassland species. By 2024, the reserve became a thriving Thar grassland, a prime habitat for the area’s great Indian bustards and other grassland species.
Sujit now plans to establish more such reserves and other safe habitats for the disappearing bustard species of India.
“We are partnering with the Rajasthan Biodiversity Board to establish a Biodiversity Heritage Site in Ajmer. We will also create more grassland reserves for the Great Indian Bustard in Jaisalmer. The idea is to bring as much habitat of these birds as possible under some level of protection,” he continued.
In recent times, his work sphere has also extended into Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Karnataka. In the two northeastern states, he is now coordinating a project to conserve Bengal floricans. His Bengal Florican Project team includes researcher Arindam Sinha and field assistant Akash Rajuvar. Not just grassland birds, now Rushikesh Pawar, a Senior Project Fellow working under Sujit’s supervision, is studying blackbucks in Bidar, Karnataka.
“Our scope of work is expanding every day. We plan to work across Rajasthan and other states as well to protect more species and habitats that need urgent attention,” stated Sujit.
Sujit is also now a recognised Ph.D. guide in Zoology at the University of Mumbai. He is also a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Bustard Specialist Group (BSG).
The Challenges
While conserving grasslands, one of the world’s most ignored ecosystems, is a major challenge in itself, Sujit and his team also face other issues during their work.
“Over the years, my team and I had to overcome many ordeals, including life-threatening situations. Several times during our landscape survey studies across India, local people and authorities have eyed us with suspicion as we roamed about as strangers in their villages looking for birds. Once our vehicles were seized and we were kept at gunpoint as the locals suspected we were anti-socials invading their area,” mentioned Sujit.
“Then, there is also the harsh climate, difficult terrain, constant travelling, staying away from our families for long in remote locations, etc., that we have accepted as part of our life to work for the cause. I must thank my mother, wife and daughters for being so understanding and supportive,” he said.
According to Sujit, despite the challenges, the goodness of the people he meets in his daily life and their willingness to help the species keeps him going.
“Throughout my journey since childhood, I have been fortunate to meet people who go out of their way to help others. Even today, the zeal of the local communities like the Bishnois to save wildlife motivates me as a conservationist,” mentioned Sujit.
While Sujit finds his inspiration in the goodness of others, the last of India’s great Indian bustards, lesser floricans, and Bengal floricans, find hope in dedicated conservationists like him. With habitat conservation as his main motto, he now moves forward with his team across the threatened wildscapes of India, saving the fast-disappearing critical habitats and their species for a brighter future for all.