Who was Timothy Treadwell?

Timothy Treadwell was an American bear enthusiast, environmentalist, and documentary filmmaker and founder of the bear-protection organization Grizzly People. He lived among coastal brown bears (Ursus arctos), which he called grizzly bears, in Katmai National Park in Alaska for 13 summers

Beginning in the late 1980s, Treadwell began summering in Alaska. For 13 summers in a row, he would camp along the Katmai Coast, an area of Alaska well known for its large grizzly bear population. During the early part of the summers he would stay on the “Big Green,” a grassy area on Hallo Bay. Later, he’d move south to Kaflia Bay, an area with thick brush.

Big Green was good for sighting bears as the grass was low and visibility was clear. Treadwell called it the “Grizzly Sanctuary” since it was where they came to rest and mosey around the coast. The Kaflia Bay area, thicker and more densely wooded, was better for getting in close contact with the bears. Referred to as the “Grizzly Maze,” the area was full of intersecting grizzly trails and was much easier to hide in.

While camping, Treadwell would get up close and personal with the bears, and film all of the interactions on his video camera. Some of the videos even showed him touching the bears and playing with cubs. While he claimed he was always careful to develop a sense of trust and mutual respect, there were many who thought otherwise.

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Who wrote Pickwick Papers?

The Pickwick Papers, in full The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, novel by Charles Dickens, first published serially from 1836 to 1837 under the pseudonym Boz and in book form in 1837. This first fictional work by Dickens was originally commissioned as a series of glorified captions for the work of caricaturist Robert Seymour. His witty, episodic accounts of the kindly, naive Samuel Pickwick and his friends in the Pickwick Club were instantly successful in their own right, however, and made Dickens a literary sensation.

The Pickwick Papers is a sequence of loosely related adventures written for serialization in a periodical. The action is given as occurring 1827–28, though critics have noted some seeming anachronisms. For example, Dickens satirized the case of George Norton suing Lord Melbourne in 1836.

The novel's protagonist Samuel Pickwick, Esquire is a kind and wealthy old gentleman, the founder and perpetual president of the Pickwick Club. He suggests that he and three other "Pickwickians" should make journeys to places remote from London and report on their findings to the other members of the club. Their travels throughout the English countryside by coach provide the chief subject matter of the novel. A romantic misunderstanding with his landlady, the widow Mrs Bardell, results in one of the most famous legal cases in English literature, Bardell v. Pickwick, leading to them both being incarcerated in the Fleet Prison for debt.

Pickwick learns that the only way he can relieve the suffering of Mrs Bardell is by paying her costs in the action against himself, thus at the same time releasing himself from the prison.

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Who was Sunderlal Bahuguna?


            Hugging is not just an act to show that you love somebody; it also helps you to protect whomever you are hugging. Large numbers of men and women in a village in Uttarakhand hugged trees to protect them from deforestation agents. The act soon became a movement called the Chipko movement, a non-violent way of protesting against deforestation.



             Sunderlal Bahuguna, a noted Garhwali environmentalist, was a Chipko movement leader. The idea of Chipko movement originated from his wife and Bahuguna put it into practice. For years, he has been fighting for the preservation of forests in the Himalayas as a member of the Chipko movement. Bahuguna later spearheaded the Anti-Tehri Dam movement starting in the 1980s, which continued to early 2004. He was one of the early environmentalists of India, and later he and people associated with the Chipko movement started taking up environmental issues, such as protests against large dams.



              Chipko movement started in 1973 spontaneously in Uttarakhand, in an effort to save trees and forests from felling by forest contractors. Sunderlal Bahuguna used the Satyagraha methods, and repeatedly went on hunger strikes on the banks of the Bhagirathi as a mark of his protest.



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How significant is Sunita Narain in the context of conservation of environment in India?


            Sunita Narain was born in Delhi and she started her career as an environmentalist at the early age of 21. Passionate about nature and a sustainable environment, she is a true champion of green living.



            As an Indian environmentalist and political activist, Sunita Narain has been a major proponent of the Green concept of sustainable development. She is director general of the India-based research institute, the Centre for Science and Environment, which works as a think tank on environment-development issues in India.



            She is also the director of the Society for Environmental Communications, and editor of the fortnightly magazine, Down to Earth. She made it to Time Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People in 2016.



            Sunita Narain is a member in many organisations that work in the field of environment. In 1991, she co-authored the work Global Warming in an Unequal World: A case of environmental colonialism.



            She has also co-edited a book called Green Politics: Global Environmental Negotiations in 2000. The book analyses the emerging ecological globalization framework.



           Sunita Narain was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2005.



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What makes Mike Pandey a prominent figure among other Indian environmentalists?


              You can express your love and concern for nature through art too! Mike Pandey is an environmentalist who has made several films on animals and plants that need attention from human society.



              He has won over 300 awards for his work to spread awareness about biodiversity and species conservation. His works focuses on helping to conserve and protect key species such as whale sharks, elephants, tigers, vultures and horseshoe crabs.



              Pandey was born in Kenya and he later became an Indian citizen. He is the first Asian producer/director to win the Wild-screen Panda Award, also known as the Green Oscar, for his film The Last Migration—Wild Elephant Capture in Surguja. In 2000, his film Shores of Silence: Whale Sharks in India, won the Green Oscar for the second time. The film also led to the ban on the killing of whale sharks on Indian shores.



                  Pandey made his country proud again in October 2004 by winning the Green Oscar for the third time for his film Vanishing Giants, a story of his passion and involvement with elephants. This film also led to the ban of cruel and outdated techniques of elephant capture in India.



                 Mike is now working on his latest film, The Return of the Tiger, which is supported by Hindi film industry actors Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham.



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What is Medha Patkar’s role in environment conservation in India?


            Nature has a rhythm and its own set of rules. Man, one among the innumerable species of life, must respect it. Dams might be good for the economic development of a nation; however, if it is at the cost of nature, then we are doing a great disfavour to ourselves. Medha Patkar fought against dams in the Narmada River, because they were destroying nature.



          Medha Patkar came to public’s attention as one of India’s champions who supported the cause of tribal people. The dams on the Narmada River were affecting the life and environment of these people. Medha Patkar is best known as the leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.



        The Narmada Bachao Andolan also known as NBA is a social movement protesting against the dam on river Narmada, which began in 1985. The protest consisted of adivasis, farmers, fish workers, labourers and others in the Narmada valley. Patkar is the founder member of the 32 year old people’s movement in three states: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The movement started as a protest against the Sardar Sarovar Dam. The protest is still on.



       She also participated in many other movements like the Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan. Medha Patkar has been arrested several times for her activism.




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What is Vandana Shiva’s contribution to the Indian environmental scenario?


              Since it is the second most populated country, India is one of the most polluted nations in the world. Pollution has been creeping into the rural areas of the country as globalization and urbanization started spreading. Vandana Shiva has been vocal against the unhealthy practices in India that lead to polluting and harming the environment.



              Vandana Shiva, an Indian environmental activist, is also a renowned scholar, food sovereignty advocate, and alter-globalization author. She is one of the leaders and board members of the International Forum on Globalization. For her contributions to the Indian environmental scenario, Vandana Shiva received the Right Livelihood Award in 1993, an honour known as an ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’.



              Her contributions include the assistance to grassroots organisations of the Green movement in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Ireland, Switzerland and Austria with campaigns against advances in agricultural development via genetic engineering.



            In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. This led to the creation of Navadanya in 1991, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seeds, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade.




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Who was David Brower?


              David Brower was a mountaineer and environmentalist. As an accomplished mountaineer, he had 70 first ascents to his credit! As was the case with most ecologists, Brower became an environment enthusiast due to his passion for nature.



             As a prominent environmentalist, Brower founded many environmental organisations. Some of the most important ones include the John Muir Institute of Environmental Studies, Friends of the Earth, the League of Conservation Voters, Earth Island Institute, North Cascades Conservation Council and Fate of the Earth Conferences. From 1952 to 1969, he served as the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club, a prominent environmental organisation.



            Brower founded ‘Friends of the Earth’ in 1969. The aim of the organisation was to prevent further development of nuclear energy. FoE set up its head-quarters in San Francisco.



           A monument ‘Spaceship Earth’ was erected in his honour at Kennesaw State University. The intention is that the monument will serve as a permanent reminder to future generations about the delicate nature of our planet.



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What are the contributions of the environmentalist Chico Mendes?


            The earth breathes through forests. If forests are destroyed, the level of oxygen in the atmosphere will steadily come down and this will result in the annihilation of life on Earth. Chico Mendes was a conservationist who fought until his final breath for the cause of forests.



            Chico Mendes was born in Brazil in a family of rubber tappers. His family supplemented their income by sustainably gathering nuts and other rainforest products. Chico Mendes is best known for his efforts at saving the rainforests of Brazil from logging and ranching activities. Alarmed at the devastation of the Amazon rainforest, he helped to ignite international support for its preservation.



            His activities, however, drew the ire of powerful ranching and timber interests, who were exploiting the Amazon forest, slowly destroying it. They conspired to murder him to get rid of his menace. Mendes was assassinated by cattle ranchers at the age of 44 on December 22, 1988. The Chico Mendes Institute for Conservation of Biodiversity, a body under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian ministry of the environment is named in his honour.



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Who is Wangari Maathai?


            Who, after one’s studies, would not like to get a white-collar job with a high salary in the busiest city in the world? Education today has taken Man away from nature and placed him in concrete jungles. However, Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan ecologist, thinks that education should instill in people respect for the earth and nature.



            Wangari Maathai was an environmental and political activist in Kenya. She studied biology in the United States and returned to Kenya to begin a career that combined environmental and social concerns. Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in Africa. This movement helped to plant over 30 million trees, providing jobs to the unemployed while also preventing soil erosion and securing firewood.



            She was appointed Assistant Minister in the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources. In 2004, Maathai was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace. She continued to fight for the rights of women, the politically oppressed and the natural environment in Kenya and other parts of the world. In 2011, Maathai died of complications from ovarian cancer.




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Was Henry David Thoreau an environmentalist?


            Have you ever felt calmer and more at peace with yourself when you are in the wild? Many people have left the hustle and bustle of the urban life to live a more harmonious life in the lap of nature. Henry David Thoreau was a nature mystic, who found peace in simple living and closeness to nature.



            Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was one of America’s first philosopher-writer-activists. His legacy is still strong in the country as he is one of the most influential personalities even today.



            In 1845, Thoreau became disillusioned with much of the contemporary life. Therefore, he set out to live alone in a small house he built near the shore of Walden Pond in Massachusetts. He spent two years there living a life of utter simplicity. These years were the inspiration for his acclaimed work, Walden, or Life in the Woods, a meditation on life and nature. The book is considered a must-read for all environmentalists.



            Thoreau also wrote an influential political piece called Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience), which inspired Mahatma Gandhi to try the Civil Disobedience Movement in, India successfully.



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Who was Aldo Leopold?


            Is Man the custodian of the earth? For thousands of years, Man had thought that he had absolute authority over all the animate and inanimate things in the world because he was endowed with superior intelligence. However, men like Aldo Leopold have taught us that Man is like any other organism in nature and he, on account of his intelligence, should devote more time and energy in conserving nature.



            Aldo Leopold, an American ecologist and conservationist, is considered by some to be the godfather of wilderness conservation and of modern ecologists. Born in 1887, in the American State of Iowa, Leopold studied forestry at Yale University and worked for the U.S. Forest Service.



            Aldo Leopold was originally asked to kill bears, cougars and other predators, because of protests from local ranchers. However, he adopted a more holistic approach to wilderness management. His approach and attitude resulted in the return of many animals which would have otherwise become extinct.



            His best-known book, A Sand County Almanac, remains one of the most eloquent pleas for the preservation of wilderness ever composed. He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was the founder of the science of wildlife management.



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Who is the founder of modern environmental movements?


          Form the latter part of the 19th century onwards, individuals had raised their voices against exploiting nature. However, until the mid-20th century, there was neither general awareness among people regarding the impending danger nor solidarity among nations to fight against it.



          Rachel Carson, a renowned environmentalist, on account of her persistent battle against anti-environmentalist forces and incessant guarding of nature’s cause, is considered by many the founder of modern environmental movements.



          Rachel Carson was born in Pennsylvania. She went on to study biology at Johns Hopkins University and Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, She later worked for the US Fish and wild-life Service; and this provided her the opportunity to be closer to the marine life. Carson published her noted work, The Sea around Us and many other books during this time.



          Her most famous work however was 1962’s Silent Spring. In this book, she described the devastating effect that pesticides had on the environment. She had to face severe criticism from chemical companies and others because of the book. However, Carson’s observations were proven Correct later. Her efforts bore fruit when pesticides like DDT were eventually banned.



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Who is John Muir, the man of the mountains?


            Great men are those who walked ahead of their times and showed the world a path worthy of following. The world has given birth to many such great visionaries who foresaw the future of our planet. John Muir, a Scottish environmentalist, was a leader and visionary, and above all was instrumental in bringing about awareness among people regarding the need to conserve nature.



            While John Muir was born in Scotland in 1838, his family had to immigrate to Wisconsin when he was just a young boy. As a young man, he had an opportunity to hike to the Gulf of an opportunity to hike to the Gulf of Mexico. This experience ignited in him his life-long passion for hiking. Muir spent much of his life wandering in the wildness of the United States.



            Muir worked tirelessly and his efforts led to the creation of Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park and many other conservation areas.



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