Young woman achiever Aaliya Mir known for wildlife conservation in Kashmir
Oct 12, 2022
Jammu and Kashmir [India], October 12 : Aaliya Mir, a resident of Bagh-i-mehtaab Srinagar, is a young woman achiever who is known for her wildlife conservation efforts in Kashmir.
Global Order, in an interview with Mir highlighted the human-wildlife conflict in Kashmir, and ways for their peaceful co-existence in the region.
Speaking about the human-wildlife conflict in Kashmir, in an interview with Akasha Usmani for Global Order she said, "We have to address this issue with two goals, either modifying the human behaviour or modifying the animal behaviour. Although modifying animal behaviour is I feel like it's not that difficult but modifying human behaviour is time-consuming and it may take many years because it's not an easy task to modify the behaviour of human beings because I think those are beings who are adamant about their myths with their false beliefs and it's really hard to, I mean it's not impossible but yes its time seeking the procedure to change the attitude of the people, to change the behaviour of the people towards wildlife because we have to increase their tolerance towards wildlife who caused damage to their property, who caused damage to their food crops and who also caused human loss".
Aaliya Mir became a Wildlife SOS volunteer during her initial journey while she was in Delhi, which acted as a milestone towards the conservation field. Aaliya's husband has been a source of motivation for her, as he worked for the welfare of stray and wild animals.
Global Order, in an interview with Mir underlined the impact of conflict on wildlife in Kashmir and its effect on the environment.
In an interview with Akasha Usmani for Global Order, Aaliya Mir said, "Conflict has indeed impacted the wildlife in Kashmir as people are getting intolerant towards wildlife and are turned to be more hostile towards the wild animals. Since nowadays it is directly linked to the existence of habitats of a particular place, therefore those people think that they have more rights to that particular place as compared to the wildlife which has been there before those people came there and got settled and made their houses".
Highlighting the measures to be taken to protect the other wildlife species on the verge of being endangered, Global Order, in the interview with Mir discussed it in detail.
"If talking about Kashmir, again I will say nothing better than educated people. If people are aware, if people are educated about wildlife wealth they have, I think nothing better than that, this is the only medium or this is the only way towards the conservation of wildlife, it is we who have to change the perception, the attitude, the beliefs and it's we who have to make the change, we should understand that we are invading their territories, we are creating problems because wherever we see the conservation at threat, the wildlife at threat, we should survey the issues, we should look into the issues, we should look into the solutions and we will always reach to one conclusion that it is the anthropogenic pressure that is creating the problems and I'm not saying that we should not do the developments, we should not work towards the development but yes there is no development at the stake of wildlife. So, I think environment and nature come first because this earth doesn't belong to us, it also belongs to the future generations as well, what are we going to pass on to our children, we have lost our air, we have lost our water resources, we have lost our wildlife wealth so what are we working for, that's a thing we have to understand", Mir said in an interview with Akasha Usmani for Global Order.
The Global Order emphasised Mir's thoughts about the recent revival of African cheetahs in India.
"I think it's the best step, it's a good step that has been taken by the prime minister of India, I think more such steps should be taken towards the conservation of wildlife and I feel like that much has to be done mitigating human-wildlife conflict because it is not only in Kashmir, its everywhere and I think our prime minister, he should intervene through his Mann ki Baat and other mediums, he should address the people so that we should be better citizens and we should be responsible towards the environment, I think our environment needs more importance and our environment needs more attention. So, I think yes, this is one of the good steps and we should work more towards conservation of environment and nature as a whole", she said in the interview with Akasha Usmani.
Recalling one of her most cherished memories during a rescue Mir told Global Order that she recetly got a chance to rescue one snake- a black-headed royal snake which was badly stuck in the van that ferries passengers from one place to another.
"There was another rescue of a bear with two cubs, one of the village in Badgaon side and that mother bear had taken shelter in an abandoned house which was quite wrecked off and she gave birth to two cubs in that house only and somehow people got to know about that there is bear in a nearby house and they immediately contacted us, we rushed to that place, we had to sedate the mother but unfortunately she ran away but we got the cubs safely rescued from that place, we waited for their mother till evening and in the evening she turned up, she came for her cubs, they all three were reunited and they were safely rehabilitated in the wild so that was another special rescue which I really, a memory that I relish", Mir said in the interview.