Khulna: Young people are the story

Manish Datta was the volunteer from BCDP who helped me in the field when filming in the Sundarbans. Once I met Manish, it was apparent within a very short amount of time, that he would make another great character for this documentary. First, he worked great on camera. He was open, passionate and honest. Second, he was another young student, struggling to continue in this field and to do what he could to preserve this species (the Ganges river dolphin).

Manish Datta (Photo: JLewis)

Little by little, as I collected the footage for this film, I began to realize that the important story to tell was that of the young people trying to not only “break” into this field, but to stay in it long term. Without the retention of these new people, the conservation of this species was going to be in even greater trouble.

In South Central Asia, working as a conservation biologist is a really tough road to take. There are few jobs available in this field here, and the pay and the job security is low. Because of this, students interested in conservation are under pressure from teachers and family to move to another field of work. One with more job security and more money. This pressure is intensified when these young people are paired to marry (through arranged marriages). When they become part of their own continued family there is additional pressure to disconnect from conservation work again because of economics (and also culture if the student is a female). Because of these circumstances, retaining smart young conservationists is tough.

It was apparent to me, that because these young students were the future of conservation, that without them, this would put greater pressure on the ability of the Ganges river dolphin to continue.