Translator: Dan Meyer Reviewer: Peter van de Ven
How many of you love tigers?
(Cheering)
All right. That's awesome.
How about lions?
(Applause)
Aren't they majestic?
Well, as majestic as they are,
unfortunately, there aren't many of them left in the wild,
and they are in danger.
Here in the Americas,
we're very lucky to have wild cats like mountain lions and bobcats
here in our very own backyards.
But what about backyards around the world?
These are just four of about 40 wild cat species around the world.
What about pampas cats,
Palllas's cats,
sand cats,
and black-footed cats?
What about the world's smallest cat -
the rusty spotted cat.
It's about the size of a wine bottle.
All these cats have one thing in common:
Like many other species on the planet,
they're either threatened, endangered,
or some close to the point of extinction in many parts of the world.
I'm a wildlife conservationist, and I'm here to share with you the idea
that we, as global citizens, have a responsibility
and the power
to protect these endangered species
and the beautiful landscapes that they live in.
And this is not just for our future generations,
but for the sustenance of life on earth,
the only planet we have until we discover another one.
My journey in conservation began
while I was doing my engineering degree in India.
That's right - I'm an Indian from India.
You see, in India we first do our engineering degree,
and then we figure out what to do in life.
(Laughter)
And I can talk to you like this all day long,
but you will not understand anything because I talk very, very fast.
So I'll probably have to switch to my fake accent.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
So, I was really lucky to get to travel to Africa
because of my mom and dad
who took me there,
and I got to camp out in the middle of the Serengeti,
the heart of Africa,
with these two amazing field guides.
Their names were Thomas and Jerry.
And while we were camping around the campfire, they said to me,
"You are just like our brother.
You can just call us Tom and Jerry."
(Laughter)
And so Tom and Jerry told me so much about their backyard wildlife.
They told us about animals like the dik-dik and the secretary bird
and their behaviors in such great detail.
It just blew my mind.
It inspired me.
But what stuck with me most was the love of their backyard wildlife
and how they said that their lives actually depended on it.
And this is when I decided to switch my career to wildlife.
Pursuing a career in conservation was not easy, especially in India.
And when I was trying to look for an opportunity,
I faced a lot of disappointments.
A lot of professionals in the field rejected me,
but then I had a lot of disappointments
but then realized that these disappointments
actually turned into appointments eventually.
And this didn't happen by any other means but through people.
These are my heroes, my mentors, who coached me
and encouraged me to pursue a career in conservation.
I eventually went on from being a project assistant
to obtaining a degree in wildlife conservation,
both a Masters and a PhD.
And I didn't do this by any other means;
I did this by analyzing a whole bunch of poop.
(Laughter)
That's real mountain lion poop right there.
We biologists like to call it "the gold mine"
(Laughter)
because it can tell us a lot of information.
Poop - DNA from poop - can tell you what animal it came from,
what it ate, who it's related to whom,
and how many there are in a given area.
I was so happy when I got my degrees,
I even changed the license plate on my car.
[CAT DNA]
(Applause)
And then I went on to reflecting on this
and realized that this was a dream come true for me.
I felt like I had received a license to save -
save all the animals in the world.
And the one thing that I learned from all my mentors and friends
is that sharing your knowledge with anyone and everyone
can be very powerful,
especially scientific knowledge.
When I was pursuing my studies,
I got to go to India and explore efforts for tiger conservation
in this wildlife sanctuary that almost lost its tigers in the last decade.
I met with some amazing people.
The man in the middle here who you see,
his name is Shankar.
He used to be a bamboo cutter.
The Tiger Conservation Society that I was volunteering for
involved him in research efforts
to collect information on tigers, leopards and so many other species
that were in this sanctuary.
Shankar got involved and not only helped with tiger conservation efforts,
but because he knew the forest like the back of his hand,
he was able to patrol the forest,
and his efforts directly led
to establishing this sanctuary very recently
as India's 42nd tiger reserve.
Now Shankar did not have any degrees,
but he sure got the license to save.
What I want to share with you is that scientific knowledge is not privileged.
In fact, I think all of science
should be openly accessible by everyone and anyone.
And sharing knowledge -
(Applause)
And sharing this knowledge
can be very powerful,
not just to protect endangered species,
but also the livelihoods of entire communities.
So when I finished my studies,
I wanted to channel all this information that I had gained
into the quest for protecting a wild cat
that lives in my backyard in India.
Any guesses on which this cat is?
It's none other than ...
You can say it ...
(Laughter)
It's a cat that is probably more endangered than the tiger,
and it is none other than the fishing cat -
a cat that loves water,
a cat that lives on fish and loves to swim.
Aren't they fishing awesome?
(Laughter)
Well, when we started looking for these cats
on the coastline of South India,
we found that these cats inhabit a very unique ecosystem -
forests that are present
at the nexus of rivers and oceans.
People from southeast US and Florida can relate -
These forests grow where salt water meets freshwater -
mangrove forests.
Mangroves, we learn, are not just habitats for these amazing species,
like fishing cats
and smooth-coated otters
and sea turtles and river turtles,
dog-faced water snakes,
mobula rays,
and thousands of bird species that depend on them for their life cycles.
But mangroves also are a source of livelihood for people.
People depend on mangroves for their survival on a day-to-day basis.
Mangroves are also the first line of defense
between natural disasters like tsunamis
and millions of livelihoods that live on coastlines.
Mangroves prevent soil erosion.
And to top it all,
mangroves store more than five times the carbon as tropical forests,
so protecting one acre of mangroves
is like protecting five or more acres of tropical forests.
But here's the big problem:
We have lost anywhere from 50 to 80% of the historic mangrove cover
in South and Southeast Asia,
and this is because of our demands for agriculture and aquaculture.
If you don't believe me, go to your grocery store
and pick up that package of shrimp that says,
"Product of Thailand," "Product of Indonesia,"
"Product of India," "Product of Sri Lanka,"
and it'll say "farm-raised."
Well guess where it comes from ...
But not all is lost.
And here's where the story takes a twist.
When we were looking for fishing cats in these mangrove habitats,
we discovered some communities.
And here's a man who we titled "The mangrove man of India."
And the reason why we did this
is because while they were amazed to learn about fishing cats,
we learned that they had already performed
some game-changing magic in this landscape.
Here's a Google Earth image.
You all use Google Earth, right?
You can go check this place out.
Scroll that historic slider back to 2005.
This was the state of the landscape back then -
mangrove forests encroached by fish and shrimp farms
and agricultural farms.
This used to be a wildlife sanctuary.
Now I want you all to close your eyes for five seconds.
Do it now.
Close your eyes for five seconds,
and we're going to travel five years forward,
and I want you to open your eyes and take a look at that same landscape again.
Abandoned farms converted to mangrove habitat.
This is what it used to look like.
This is what it looks like now.
And this has not just happened on that small piece of land,
but 27,000 acres of farms were restored to mangroves
in less than half a decade
through a community effort.
And guess who lives there?
(Applause)
Now here's where I want to connect the dots
from cats to communities to climate change.
And we can clearly see
the potential of engaging citizens in science-based conservation efforts.
And I believe that with enough encouragement,
anyone can do conservation.
When I was working on this project,
I was contacted by this 18-year-old boy,
Santosh,
who was texting me on Facebook Messenger and going,
"I really want to help!
I really want to help protect these cats in my backyard,
and I really want to do something for conservation."
It took me back to the time when I was yearning for an opportunity
to become a part of wildlife conservation efforts
and I said I was going to change this when I became a professional.
So we brought Santosh onto the team,
and in less than six months,
he learned all the skills of a conservation biologist.
And he communicated with his entire community
about the importance of protecting their backyard ecosystems
and the endangered species out there
that they really need for their long-term survival.
Santosh not only did that,
he educated schoolchildren,
and he went on a harnessing trust with tribal communities.
The man to the left there, his name is Moshi.
He used to hunt fishing cats.
And guess what Moshi does now?
He is helping us track cats
and collecting information on these species,
and educating his community about wild cats,
about endangered species and the importance of protecting them.
Moshi and Santosh helped us discover three new populations of fishing cats,
and they're both employed in conservation.
I just want to drive home the message now
that anyone can get involved
and save species from extinction
and change the face of the planet.
So go out there, be curious,
photograph that plant that poked you
or the bug that bugged you.
Who knows, you might be a part of a discovery.
And don't forget to share your knowledge with the world.
Children,
the future of safeguarding our ecosystems,
are waiting to hear from you.
Are you listening?
Just remember,
the name is Scientist,
Citizen Scientist,
and you have the License to Save -
save the world from extinction.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)