Biodiversity is us

In this episode, we journeyed through the lived experiences of Manish Chandi, Madhuri Ramesh and Shiba Desor - individuals who have spent several years thinking deeply about the fate of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. We navigated through memories and current affairs to understand how we could walk the fine lines between development, conservation and social wellbeing. Join us as we learn how to safeguard these culturally- and ecologically-rich islands by making decisions that are wholly aligned with what the land, sea and people require and aspire for.

This is the second episode in the series, titled Humanity and Restoration. In this episode, you will be transported to Nicobari huts thatched with Nypa fruticans, you will imagine yourself in small rafts bobbing in the ocean ‘like nobody’s business’ and you will sit beside Uncle Pao in a cab driving through South Andaman and looking for plants. Our guide on these (and many more) journeys is Manish Chandi, our only guest for this second episode and raconteur par excellence.

This is the first episode in the three part series of Nature, Society and Beyond. Isolation from mainland Asia has allowed nature and people of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to evolve into species and cultures found nowhere else on the planet. Yet, there has always been and continues to be a flux of people and nature from South-Asia, impacting the island chain, in significant ways. Guests Manish, Madhuri and Shiba introduce these island ecosystems to mainland Indian listeners. About the speakers: Manish Chandi is an anthropologist who has spent the last 25 years in the Islands: besides studying local people and their relationships with nature, Manish has, along the way, restored rainforests, helped with tsunami relief efforts and surveyed crocodiles and turtles. Madhuri Ramesh is a political ecologist who studies nature-society relations in the Andaman Islands and the consequences of these negotiations for nature conservation and sustainability. Shiba Desor is a social scientist who worked with the Karen community to set up the Andaman Karen Crafts initiative, a cooperative to promote cultural continuity and environmental conservation through weaving, artisanal crafts, tree nurseries and a local-cuisine restaurant.