Protecting India’s water

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Since receiving his Rolex Award in 2008, naturalist Romulus Whitaker has been travelling throughout India consolidating his network of weather research stations. Three stations are already fully operational: his pilot project in Agumbe, set up with support from the Whitley Fund for Nature in the U.K., as well as stations in the Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh and one on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Romulus Whitaker examines solar panels at the Agumbe weather research station
© Rolex Awards / Cedric Bregnard

These sites are fully automated, recording on a daily basis data such as ambient and ground temperatures, rainfall, relative humidity, solar irradiance, wind direction and speed as well as barometric pressure. The intention is to monitor trends in climate change, with the ultimate aim to help secure India’s volatile water supply.

The threats to India’s water supply are severe, coming not only from climate change, but also from deforestation, excessive groundwater usage and ill-conceived dam construction. Whitaker is busy finalising arrangements for three other sites, which, though they are operational, still require equipment or staff to man them full-time.

Romulus Whitaker and a student tracking the male king cobra near the Agumbe station
© Rolex Awards / Cedric Bregnard

Whitaker says his research teams have already noticed anomalies in terms of bird nesting periods and unusual weather patterns. However, he accepts the limitations of such short-term observations: “These could just be normal fluctuations, so it is important that we stick with our research to discover any longer term patterns,” he explains.

While Whitaker’s present focus is on the rain forest regions of India, he plans to eventually expand this network of stations to incorporate habitats other than rainforests in order to achieve a more holistic understanding of India’s conservation imperatives. The first of these is a field station on the Chambal River in Uttar Pradesh where Whitaker is co-investigator of a radio-telemetry project studying the critically endangered gharial, a fish-eating crocodile down to less than 200 breeding adults in the wild.

In May 2011, Whitaker was invited by the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests to attend an Expert Level Consultation for Establishment of a Network of Long-term Ecological Laboratories as a member consultant. Whitaker says he is delighted to be part of this initiative: “This could be the single biggest push toward establishing a network of field stations. While we, as an NGO, can do some rapid, no holds-barred conservation work at our little field stations, the government has now committed big bucks to establishing and/or beefing up existing ones with all the whistles and bells to be able to monitor all manner of environmental parameters.”

Whitaker adds that the Rolex Award provided a significant boost to his project. “Recognition from such a prestigious award really helps in bolstering my credentials and raising my project’s profile. US$50,000 also translates into a lot of rupees, and a windfall such as this is very welcome.”

In tandem with his climate research work, Whitaker still makes time for his first love: his lifelong passion for snakes. “These creatures have always fascinated me, given me solace during tough times. I have the utmost respect and sympathy for their innocence and obvious wish to be left to themselves.” While the snakeskin trade has virtually been eliminated, loss of habitat is affecting forest-dwelling snakes like the King Cobra and the Python.

“The snakes responsible for most of the deaths in India —- Cobras, Kraits, the Russells Viper and the Saw Scaled Vipers — have proven to be remarkably adaptive, and in fact thrive in human and agricultural landscapes,” explains Whitaker. “And how could they not? We give them shelter in the form of hedge rows and rice field dams, we give them year round water in the form of irrigation, and we give them abundant food, in the form of rodents.”

To this end, and ever mindful of the welfare of the people among whom he lives, Whitaker is working with his researchers as well as local people to collect venom samples from snakes as part of the South Asia Snakebite Initiative. These samples are sent to toxinologists at the Indian Institute of Science and the University of Mysore, allowing them to determine their toxicity and evaluate the efficacy of existing antivenom serums. “Much improvement is needed in treating snake bites in India, from raising awareness about snakes right through to how they are treated. The role our research stations play is to help analyse regional variations of venoms to ultimately create a truly universal and effective serum.”

Whitaker’s interactions with India’s disadvantaged tribal groups and threatened animals has helped to mould his vision of a world where people and the world's other creatures live together in creative harmony. The understanding of this interdependence underpins Whitaker’s efforts. By developing the research and conservation capabilities of the station personnel and ensuring, through education, that the local people support these endeavours, he is ultimately helping to ensure the sustainable future of the wider environment, and all creatures that live within it.

Alexa Schoof Marketos

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It is important that we stick with our research to discover any longer term patterns.”

Protecting India’s water

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