Of dolphins and sharks: The marine conservationist who made Bangladesh her home
Meet the Swiss-born conservationist who, with her Bangladeshi husband, has been playing a leading role in cetacean research and action in Bangladesh
Elisabeth Fahrni Mansur has been living in Bangladesh for more than 20 years. In these two decades, she has been an integral part of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Bangladesh, which focuses on wildlife conservation with an emphasis on cetaceans, sharks and rays.
She has supported the establishment of three Wildlife Sanctuaries for Freshwater Dolphins in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh's first marine protected area (MPA) at the head of the Swatch-of-No-Ground submarine canyon and adjacent estuarine waters, and two other MPAs for balancing the protection of threatened marine wildlife and sustainable fisheries.
Elisabeth is also the Regional Vice Chair, Indian Ocean, IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group (SSG).
The marine conservationist and her husband, renowned wildlife photographer, researcher, and conservationist Rubaiyat Mansur Mowgli, have played major roles in cetacean (the collective term for whales, dolphins and porpoises) surveys in the Sundarbans waterways and across Bangladesh's coastal and marine waters.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Under their enterprise 'Mowgliz Production' they brought out the books 'Sundarban- A Basic Field Guide', 'Living with Tides and Tigers - The Sundarbans Mangrove Forest' and 'The Mowalis of the Sundarban'.
They live in Khulna with their two children. I recently met Elisabeth while she was in Dhaka, and we had a long conversation about her life and the numerous roles she has played over the years as conservationist, nature guide, wildlife photographer, and teacher.
"I am an explorer and my calling is in the role of an environmental educator," she said, adding, "But these titles are just opportunities that I was able to make good use of, and along the way, help others to find their paths."
She recently left her position as Senior Manager of the Marine Conservation Programme at WCS Bangladesh and is looking forward to exploring new opportunities to invest and expand her interests, expertise and skill sets.
We also discussed the daunting Sundarbans, and why respecting and protecting nature is key for ensuring a sustainable future for human and wildlife communities.
Living in the Sundarbans for 15 months
In 2019, the couple turned their dream of spending a longer time in the Sundarbans into reality.
The family of four took a year's leave from work and school to explore the forest. They ended up spending 15 months on a golpata (Nipa palm or trunkless palm tree, a mangrove plant species) barge that they converted into a houseboat.
"That really was a remarkable year for all of us. It allowed us to connect with the mud, the forest, and with the people for a substantial time."
"One of the most fascinating things about the Sundarbans I find is that there are so many questions that we still have to ask, and whenever we find the answer to one, another five questions pop up; there is this continuous search for explanations and a yearning to understand," said Elisabeth on this unique forest between land and sea, which is "under increasing pressure from human settlements, natural resource extraction, and changing environmental conditions."
In her words, this forest represents raw, natural power. "It is muddy, it is inhospitable, it is mostly saline, with different plants and an array of wildlife, including several top predators. The ecosystem itself is so variable like the daily and seasonally changing tides."
The title of their first coffee table book 'Living with Tides and Tigers: The Sundarbans Mangrove Forest', nicely represented the ever-changing nature of this area and its inhabitants and users.
They will soon publish another book on their experiences from their year on the houseboat in this mangrove forest.
Growing up amidst nature, and falling in love in Bangladesh
Elisabeth's American mother and Swiss father met in the United States. They moved to the French-speaking part of Switzerland together, where Elisabeth was born.
They then moved to the German-speaking part of Switzerland, where she grew up in a very rural setting amidst farmland and forests, as she described it.
As a family, they spent a lot of time outdoors. They went on bicycle tours, and travelled a lot—both international and national.
She and her sister grew up with a lot of pets, too. "We had the privilege of a large garden, where we had cats and rabbits, as well as wild visitors including hedgehogs, lizards, owls and foxes."
In Switzerland, after grade nine, you have to decide whether you want to go into an apprenticeship for learning a trade or continue school. Elisabeth "really did not want to continue going to school."
Upon passing the entry exam to the cantonal teachers' training college, her parents enabled her to visit high school in the USA for a year. There, she had dedicated teachers who exposed her to the creative world of theatre, arts, sports and science. This experience restored her interest in continuing school.
She completed five years at the teachers' training institute and greatly enjoyed her time there. "The opportunities of engaging in visual arts, music, natural sciences and learning how to teach them was very inspiring. I absolutely loved it."
During her time at the teachers' training college, she participated in a Lions summer camp in Japan with people her age from around the world. It was there that she met and befriended Faria Hossain Lara, the daughter of esteemed author Selina Hossain, who invited her to Bangladesh the next summer.
"She was an extraordinarily smart and versatile person, very interested in literature, music, with a large circle of friends," recalled Elisabeth about her late friend, who was the country's first female flying instructor and died in a tragic plane crash. It was through Lara that Elisabeth and Rubaiyat met in Bangladesh in 1998.
By 2002, she had moved to Bangladesh and joined Rubaiyat as a nature guide for The Guide Tours Ltd. They were in charge of guiding groups of national and foreign visitors, film crews, researchers, and photographers through the Sundarbans on their boats.
Working to protect dolphins and organising the 'Shushuk Mela'
The couple's journey into marine conservation started with the Ganges River and Irrawaddy dolphins, when WCS scientist and Asia Coordinator for the IUCN Species Survival Committee's Cetacean Specialist Group Brian D Smith led the first dolphin survey in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh. He hired Rubaiyat's boat and services as a navigator for the research expedition.
Elisabeth mentions Brian as their mentor. "It takes someone to draw your attention and enable you to learn and develop your interest and skills. Our discoveries started because Brian showed us what he considered important, fascinating, and how to study the wildlife, identify threats they face, and formulate conservation solutions."
Most researchers that Rubaiyat had worked with earlier would tell him that in order to understand their methodology, one needed to be a scientist first. Brian showed him that formal scientific training was not a prerequisite to work for protecting nature.
"He [Brian] brought together a team of extremely hardworking men and women. From sunrise to sunset, they were on deck, with their eyes on the water, uninterrupted. After sunset, they took a short break, before entering the day's data. Everyone on board, including our boat crew, enjoyed the work and was able to explain what they were doing and why. Brian inspired and enabled us to become wildlife conservation professionals."
As they became more and more involved with conservation work, including joining cetacean survey teams in India and Myanmar, they began to build a Bangladesh country programme for the Wildlife Conservation Society. The organisation was officially registered in Bangladesh in 2012.
"We started with more regular surveys of coastal waters in 2004 during winter months, when the water is calmer. While Rubaiyat initiated a photo-identification study for coastal dolphins, I focused on education outreach. We translated scientific research findings into a language and communication tools that people working for the government or fishing in the area could understand, to inspire and engage them in the protection of these globally threatened species [freshwater dolphins]."
The 'Shushuk Mela' (Ganges River dolphins are called 'shushuks', and 'mela' means a fair or carnival in Bangla) was Elisabeth's first initiative to draw public attention to conservation needs of freshwater dolphins.
Over a period of five years, her team took a travelling exhibition on a golpata barge to communities living near the Sundarbans Forest, where concentrations of both species are high.
For a month, interpreters guided visitors through the interactive elements like skeletons and games to enable the people to gain a better understanding of these fascinating aquatic mammals.
What is a dolphin, and what is a shark?
People find it difficult to understand the difference between dolphins and sharks. But as Elisabeth, who was wearing bright blue whale shark earrings, explained to me in a very simple manner by showing me her props: several small life-like figurines of dolphins, sharks, rays and sea turtles.
"Dolphins are air-breathing mammals with a tail that goes up and down. Sharks are fish, which have a tail that goes from side to side."
Pointing at the orca (orcas are also known as killer whales), she told me that these relatives of the Irrawaddy dolphins are found all in most oceans.
There is only one documented record for Bangladesh, made by a fisherman. "He was trained as a citizen scientist by us, and photographed the animal's extremely tall dorsal fin," she said.
Elisabeth loves watching pods of dolphins or whales from the boat. "I am not a diver, but cetaceans can be observed without having to be under water. They have to come to the water's surface to breathe air into their lungs, and that is when we can observe and photograph them."
Having recently resigned from WCS, she is looking to spend more time with her family and find new ways to invest herself.
"I feel fortunate to live in Bangladesh, a highly diverse and interesting country with hospitable, endearing and accommodating people. The opportunities that I was given and was able to create here are unique. I feel very much at home here. I am here for good."
