Ravinder Kaur: Malaysian Wildlife Researcher Bags Marsh Award For Hornbill Research, Conservation Projects

                                        Ravinder Kaur

Meet Ravinder Kaur, the wildlife researcher who has been dedicating her life to protecting hornbills in Malaysia since 2006.

Recently the researcher bagged the Terrestrial Conservation Leadership Award from the Marsh Christian Trust for her significant contribution to sustainable biodiversity at a local level.

In partnership with Fauna and Flora International, the award celebrates those who have been playing an important role in their communities, highlighting local leaders or organisations making a particularly special contribution to conservation.

According to Ravinder Kaur, the award means so much for her team and her as grants are harder to come by as donors are struggling to keep themselves afloat amid the Covid-19 crisis.

“I believe the pandemic is a wake-up call where we need to do more for nature and wildlife as human beings would be affected by continuous forest destruction and species extinction,”.

“And during those field trips, whenever I saw a hornbill nest, I would be intrigued by it because it was not easy to spot a hornbill's nest as the birds are secretive of their nesting sites.”

She also recalled an unforgettable memory where she had volunteered to spend six months observing the critically endangered Helmeted hornbill nests for a study and was thrilled by the rare bird species.

And that ultimately made her pursue her masters degree in the field of birds in Universiti Malaysia Sabah where she spent weeks in the jungle to observe the hornbill species.

Upon finishing her masters, an opportunity came knocking at her door when she received a call from a sun-bear scientist based in Sabah.

Ravinder and her teammates, Helson Hassan and Amidi Majinun who are Kinabatangan locals were tasked to collect seeds regurgitated by hornbills under nest trees to be grown in HUTAN/KOCP nursery.

However, the current alarming Covid-19 situation in Sabah has put a halt to Ravinder’s hornbill conservation projects.

“We now have reduced activities due to lower finances and lower risk of exposure. And the pandemic has also made us think more creatively on how to raise funds."

“ My husband, Sanjitpaal Singh has been developing artwork based on his photography excursions to help raise funds for conservation projects in Malaysia.”

Ravinder Kaur also said that the number of hornbills have been decreasing throughout the years due to poaching and habitat loss.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2020/10/14/malaysian-wildlife-researcher-ravinder-kaur-bags-marsh-award-for-hornbill-

https://www.facebook.com/sanjitpaal.singh/photos
https://www.facebook.com/ravinder.kaur.3956690
https://www.facebook.com/environmentawareness.frorum/posts

Dr. Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi