Saurav Kumar Patgiri

Saurav is from the low-lying land of the river people. Like any other Mising tribal child, he was born near a river in a stilted house. Living in and around biodiversity hotspots has influenced his life to a great extent.

Since childhood, he participated in community fishing, subsistence hunting and foraging from the nearby forest. When he moved to a nearby town for his higher studies, his gradual understanding of ecology and the environment changed. During his school days, he made connections with people who had worked in Kaziranga National Park, located around 5 km from his home. This led him to understand human–wildlife interactions from another dimension. In his high school years, shooting birds with rubber and stones gradually turned into taking camera shots of birds. He became interested in identifying bird species and researching their importance in biodiversity.

This change taught him a great deal about positive transformation, while reflections on human–wildlife conflict sparked his curiosity about forest management. For his Master’s degree, he moved to India’s capital city, where he studied Development Studies, with a focus on the intersections of environment and development. After completing his Master’s, he returned to his hometown in 2023. Since then, he has been working on projects focused on ecology, conservation and human rights, and running several organisations where members of his community contribute to the larger cause of conservation.