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World Water Day Special: In conversation with diver and marine conservationist Nayantara Jain

Step into the world of diving instructor and marine conservationist Nayantara Jain of ReefWatch Marine Conservation India

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“About 20% of the world's coral reefs are dead. Another 20% are near-death or threatened. These are not just numbers when you are diving everyday. I wish the numbers would hit as hard as the visuals, because maybe then we would all do something about it. To see a colourful reef with clear water and full of fish, looking dead, bleached and broken, with algae growing on it and very few fish in a month's time is heartbreaking; that's definitely the biggest low of what I do,” says the 27-year-old with flyaway hair, who has spent the past nine months or so heading the conservation efforts of ReefWatch Marine Conservation, an NGO that Prahlad and Mitali Kakar started in 1993.

The philosophy major turned marine conservationist learned to dive as a teenager, on a family vacation to the Maldives; she has been a diving instructor for almost six years. The daily reef deterioration made Nayantara realise that just teaching tourists to dive “was not enough” and that she had to be a part of conservation efforts. Her diving experience and the fact that she was already helping marine biologists with data collection, helped her secure a place at the SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California for a Masters in Marine Biology and Conservation.

Now that she's back in India, most of her mornings during the diving season (October to May) are spent in the Andamans, diving either for research projects (fish identification, coral reef surveys) or school programmes that educate children about the ocean in situ—so mangrove ecosystems, rocky inter-tidal zones and coral reefs become classrooms. The proceeds from the programmes conducted for kids from IB schools and privileged homes in Mumbai are invested into similar programmes for underprivileged kids from the local government schools. “The privilege of taking children who have lived by that coast their whole life but have never been aware of what's underwater right next to their coast and seeing the sense of joy and pride they they feel for this ecosystem right next to theirs, is the highest high for me,” says Nayantara, who believes it is essential for people to develop a “personal connection” with the ocean, “because no one is going to protect what they don't love and no one is going to love what they don't know”.  

Her afternoons are spent in community outreach programmes such as Ocean Art Sundays, which involves local kids in identifying local environmental issues such as slitter and finds ways to resolve them; raise awareness through creating open-access short films and underwater documentaries about the beauty beneath the surface of Indian waters that can be shared in classrooms and conferences. ReefWatch is part of the World Wildlife Conservation Board in Delhi, serves on the sub-committee for the preservation of Dugongs, surveys the beaches of Mumbai to analyse litter sources and content. She is attempting to prevent littering and encourage segregation of garbage in the peripheral areas of the Andamans, where the government's garbage collection initiatives haven't reached yet. ReefWatch also runs volunteer programmes to enable people to connect with the ocean. It is also working on Andaman Reef Life coffee table and guide book combined with the Forest Department of the Andamans. It is on the Wildlife Advisory Board in Delhi and certain sub-committies like the Dugong Conservation sub-committee. It also works with the Andamans Forest and Education Departments and with the government to introduce top-down as well as down -up initiative for change, so you can imagine how busy she is in season.

Off-season you'll find her in Bombay fund raising, applying for grants and taking care of the administrative work involved in running an NGO.  She finds no need for work-life balance, because to her, work is not work. “I'm doing what I love. My work takes me to exotic locations, lets me introduce children to the underwater world and gives me a chance to make a difference. What more can I ask for?”

Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide is a favourite of this voracious reader, who has also written for Sanctuary Asia and Condé Nast. She's currently reading Sea Change: A message from the Oceans, by marine biologist Sylvia Earle, whom she looks up to. She recently travelled to Thailand to learn about a new bio-rock technology for transplanting coral and hopes the future will allow for her kids to run into clean waters off Nariman Point and Juhu. But to do that she will have to bring about a sea change in the “personal connection” we Indians have with our waters.  

Read about other women who live, breathe and dream water:

Award-winning sailor Rohini Rau http://dnai.in/cCvs

India's first female surfer Ishita Malaviya http://dnai.in/cCv5

Under-14 Nationals swimming medalist Ariesa Mongia  http://dnai.in/cCvm

 

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