The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : Celebrate the Kipunji monkey

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 29, 2006

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

Celebrate the Kipunji monkey

The discovery of a new primate in the high altitude forests of Tanzania is yet another compelling piece of evidence that science has a lot more to explore in the natural world. Rungwecebus kipunji — a furry, tree-dwelling, omnivorous, curly-tailed, reclusive monkey believed to be endemic to two forest areas of Tanzania — has such distinctive features that scientists have proposed, on the basis of genetic and morphological evidence, a new genus for it. This is certainly an occasion for celebration because the last time a genus was created for a living primate from Africa was 83 years ago. Tim Davenport from the Wildlife Conservation Society and other investigators from Yale University, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, and the University of Alaska Museum have reported their exciting findings in Science. The Kipunji monkey, like many newly described plant and animal species, is symbolic of the magnificent life-sustaining biodiversity that has survived predatory human pressures on land and water resources. This is a find of the kind the Harvard biologist, Edward O. Wilson, terms a sunrise for science, illuminating first the steeples of the unknown, then its dark hollows. Sadly, forests and wetlands with priceless biological resources that contribute to human welfare in direct and indirect ways are vanishing everywhere — before the light of science can shine on them. Where science does get a look-in, as during the December 2005 expedition to the Foja Mountains of Indonesian New Guinea, it finds a wondrous assemblage of previously unknown plants and animals. India's own Arunachal Pradesh unveiled Macaca munzala, a new macaque species, to scientists a couple of years ago.

The international project that led investigators to the Kipunji monkey holds an important lesson for India's Ministry of Environment and Forests. Bureaucracy ensures that considerable time is lost in documenting the biodiversity of the country through the instrumentality of peer-reviewed science. Independent researchers and even scientific institutions with good credentials are often made to wait inordinately for permission to enter forests. They are required to repeat the process annually. Collection of samples for bona fide work is subject to arbitrary restrictions. In some cases, research scholars with limited budgets have been obliged to scale down their investigations because they must pay the same high charges as tourists for use of forest department facilities. Against such odds, wildlife scientists in India have done a splendid job of exploring the natural world. The discovery of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis, the new Western Ghats frog species reported in 2003, is a fine example. India's forests are a global biodiversity hotspot. Acknowledging this, the National Forest Commission has emphasised the key role of research in conservation. It is about time the Ministry in charge welcomed bona fide scientists pursuing basic and applied research in the protected areas.

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