EIC EcoWatch Achievers : Dr. Brigitte Ebbe

Cheer leader for deep sea research in biology

Dr Brigitte Ebbe studied biology upto the doctoral level at the University of Hamburg. Later, she worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Woodshole, Massachussetts. Her area of expertise is in the polychaetes of the deep sea. She is the Scientific Project Manager for the Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life (CeDAMar) Project and is also the Education and Outreach Officer for CeDAMar's Outreach and Education initiatives at the Deutsches Zentrum für Marine Biodiversitätsforschung, Senckenberg, Germany. Dr Brigitte Ebbe is an important member of Prof Dr Angelika Brandt's core team that explored the Weddell sea floor through Project ANDEEP.

In this interview Dr Brigitte Ebbe shares some interesting glimpses of what a deep sea biologist's life is like.

It would be nice to know more about your special role in the ANDEEP project?

When I started to think about this project, we really came from two sides on this project. On one side were the researchers with expertise in the polar regions. On the other side were the deep sea biologists.

I really have a lot of experience in the deep sea and have been working for 15 years researching the marine fauna of the deep sea. I have the ability to compare and correlate whatever results we expected with my earlier experiences in the deep sea and other areas, so we could pool our experiences to arrive at a better understanding and identification of the different species.

The second part of my special role in the ANDEEP project relates to this animal group that I am working with, which is polychaetes.

Euphrosine is a polychaete belonging to the family Euphrosinidae which turned out to be quite abundant in the deep Southern Ocean.
They are motile, crawl about the sediment surface and are most likely predators.

Asbestopluma

Asbestopluma is a carnivorous sponge. These unusual sponges are quite diverse in the deep Southern Ocean. Unlike "normal" sponges that feed on very fine particles, these sponges have a "mouth" to engulf whole small crustaceans. They are, however, only a few millimetres across.

Polychaetes are just as important as the crustaceans because they normally make up about half of the entire macrofauna. Basically, whenever you take a sample anywhere from the sea floor at least half of all the samples will be polychaetes.

One of the questions we had been asking when we started ANDEEP is whether the animals in the deep sea would show endemism as compared to theAntarctic shelf.

Waldecki

The polychaetes were particularly interesting because they have larvae so they can disperse overwide areas. They can basically disperse with the deep sea water. You can even find some species in the Equator. Indeed, we did find some species that exist on both sides of the Antarctic.

Some of them are distributed from pole to pole. That was an interesting fact. There are of course, a lot of species that are known only in the Antarctic deep sea. They do not show any particular morphological specialties. You would not be able to tell by it's morphology where they are from.

Tryphosella

This picture and the one above are pictures of amphipods that we were able to keep alive in our aquarium.

Please tell us more about the two Compendiums of books that have been brought out by your centre and your role in popularizing understanding on the biodiversity of the Wedell deep sea?

There have been two. One of them is on ANDEEP, our Antarctic Project. It is directed towards fellow scientists. It is not really meant for the general public. It is meant to inform our fellow scientists about what we have seen.

The second volume is on a different project. That is also part of COML (Census of Marine Life). It's called Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic (EBA). It's really a companion project. It compares deep sea stations in the Eastern Antarctic.

Eventually, we want to have a transit, so that we can compare the fauna in deep sea basins from the Arctic to the Antarctic. We want to see how the deep sea fauna changes and how different the communities are.

The general public plays a very important role. My role in CeDAMaR is in Education and Outreach. We want to make the public aware about the oceans, about how interesting they are and how little we know about them. I am trying to share with the general public the excitement of deep sea biology and of being a deep sea biologist.

We are trying to publish articles in journals that the general public is reading. Whenever there's an expedition going on that is part of CeDAMaR, we are publishing a daily log in the website of CeDAMaR so that people can look over their shoulders while we are working. That has been very well received. We write our reports in the evening and then send it off. People can then read what we've posted immediately.

It's so fascinating to explore the world of a deep sea biologist. I believe you and your team have made some films on ANDEEP expeditions. What's a typical day on the icebreaker Polarstern like? Would you please share your experiences?

Well, we have two kinds of films. One is a film about the daily life on board a research vessel. The other film shows little scenes from the deep sea floor. The one that tells about life on board a research vessel shows us working with heavy gear. When we go on an expedition each of us gets a big set of warm clothes. Some of the clothes are too warm. The temperature is between 0 degrees Centigrade and 10 degrees Centigrade. The air is so dry that you don't feel the cold so much.

This is a picture of the icebreaker - Polarstern

It's unusually hard work for most of us because usually we sit at the computers and microscopes and we don't move around much. Being on an expedition involves a lot of physical work - as in when we have to send the sampling gear down.

Sleep becomes a rare commodity. You can see in the emails that we write home mentioning the lack of sleep. An expedition typically lasts quite long - for 10-12 weeks. You stay in a small cabin of about 95 sq meters with a companion so that are you never alone during the entire expedition.

Here, you can see me in the lab

Of course, it is really exciting. Every day is an adventure. Whenever a piece of gear comes up with a sample, you can be sure that half the animals that come up, no one has ever seen them before. Because we work in the deep sea, it takes a long time for the gear to come back with a sample. We wait for a long time and then everyone gets excited when we get a sample back on board.

The other films that we have are of the ocean floor. They are mostly for the scientists because we want to get an impression of what the sea floor looks like. The camera is our extended eye. It shows us where to lower our gear. Usually when you go to the deep sea ocean floor, it's more or less homogeneous fine mud.

However, one of the things special to the deep sea Antarctic are the dropstones. Dropstones are rocks that drop from melting icebergs. These stones can destroy the sampling gear if they are big enough. That's one reason why we carry the camera down to the sea floor.

With the cameras, we can also see what the animal community looks like in situ. Most of the animals are very small but we did see some of the larger animals like sponges, star fish and sea cucumbers.

It would also be nice to know if you plan to create an on line gallery and a database that showcases the biodiversity of the new species discovered in the ANDEEP project as well as other species of marine life in the surface waters of Antarctica?

Well, we are working on a gallery. There will be one on the CeDAMaR site that we are redesigning. There is another fellow project - that is part of the International Polar Year. It is called Census of Antarctic Marine Life or CAML. It deals with the entire Southern Ocean. We are in the process of creating a very big picture gallery.

Starfish

About this species on your left, we haven't been able to identify it as yet. I believe it is a cidaroid sea urchin with some kind of a parasite on it (that's the reddish part that you can see in the picture).

That will be available soon. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Marine Biodiversity Information Network SCAR MarBIN have a fairly extensive gallery already on their website. You can see it here at http://www.scarmarbin.be/photo_gallery.php.

Each of the Center's Projects has it's own education and outreach team. The biggest legacy of the entire team really will be the database – OBIS or Ocean Biogeographic Information Sysem which will have worldwide records of marine species. It will be freely accessible to everybody. That will last beyond the duration of this project which will end in 2010. Then, everybody will be able to access OBIS and search for species or click on a map to see the list of the species that can be found there.

glass sponge

We are also continuously publishing in newspapers and besides this there are newsletters that we do for the different projects. The COML newsletter can be seen on this web portal.

We are planning a traveling exhibit which is called Deeper than Life. It has just started in Norway and then will travel all over Europe to the US. It will show animals and also some art related to or triggered by the deep sea. Everything is so beautiful in the deep sea.

One of the things we would like to get across is how beautiful life in the deep sea is. There have been several books already published which have the COML data included, though these are not published by COML. I am positive that there will be big coffee table type of books published by COML.

We are coming together in New Zealand. I am sure that when we discuss the final outcome of the project we will focus a lot on reaching out and educating the general public about our work and life in the deep sea. One of the major goals of COML is to get this knowledge out to the general public.

How does a deep sea biologist in India wanting to visit the Antarctic deep sea get started, if they want to join an ANDEEP expedition?

Well, you can always write to any of us. If they have completed graduation in biology and want to specialize in Taxonomy, we have Taxonomy Exchange Programs. We want young people to get interested in identifying animals. We have a real gap now coming in the knowledge to identify species. One of the goals of COML is to close this gap because otherwise ten years from now, there will be nobody left who will be able to identify the marine animals of the deep sea. So, there are Taxonomy Exchange Programs for students which includes a small amount of money that will take care of the daily needs of the students.

If somebody from India would like to participate in any of these programs, just write to any of the Education and Outreach people of the program. The best way to get there is to visit the COML portal and explore all the different projects.

A chinstrap penguin with a colleague, Dr. Wiebke Broekeland from the German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research

Tell us about some of the most memorable moments of your research?

I love this photograph!

Wouldn't you agree it's quite a picturesque reflection of an iceberg in the water

That's very difficult because there are so many of them. For me, personally it was when we went to the South Sandwich trench which is in the eastern side of the Weddell sea. It was over 6000 meters deep. It was one of our deepest sites.

When we went there and lowered our piece of gear, we knew that nobody had ever been there before. It was a wide area on the map. It was an exciting feeling to know that you are definitely the first person to look there. I think that was one of the most memorable moments.

Another incident that comes to my mind was when we used the camera to photograph the ocean floor. The camera was approved to take pictures only unto a depth of 5000 meters. We really wanted to see pictures there.

Images of the Weddel sea floor

The person who was in charge of the camera, who was handling the camera said, "I am going to try and see if it's possible to take some photographs of the sea floor". We got the camera back in one piece and with lots of great pictures. It was amazing! We had pictures from depths that we had never seen before. That was very exciting!

Tell us about your family and how do you like to spend your free time?

When I get some free time I like to have the other half of my brain working. I sing in a chorus group, in classical music and also sing in the opera as a soloist, just for fun.

I am singing in two church choir groups - one is a very small one with 15 or 20 singers and the other is a big one where we are singing a big classical work of church music.

I love to work in my little garden. It is one of the most relaxing things to do. It's nice to get there and weed and watch everything flower.

My family is very small. It just consists of my husband. He has a son from his first marriage who comes to see us often. We used to have until three weeks ago two cats. Unfortunately they were old and they died, both within two and a half months of one another. It was very sad but at least they got to live long, and I would think happy lives. It's very empty in the house. We are missing them very much. We are looking to adopt another pair of kittens.

Thank you very much Dr Brigitte Ebbe for sparing your valuable time for an inteview.

Photo credits :
Two amphipods, kept alive in aquaria on board for the duration of the expedition - copyright Claude De Broyer/CeDAMar

A chinstrap penguin with a colleague, Dr. Wiebke Broekeland from the German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research - copyright - CeDAMar

Reflected icebergs - copyright Brigitte Ebbe/CeDAMar

Photographs of the deep sea floor - copyright - Prof Bob Diaz

All other images are copyright - CeDAMar

Google Earth awakens to life with Soundscapes

With soundscapes added to Google Earth, you can go on a virtual forest trek and listen in to the lively conversations that birds, animals and insects in the forests are having.

To know more about this exciting development, check out the two links below.

http://www.appscout.com/2007/06/google_and_wild_sanctuary.php

Source: email communication from Dr Mohammed Irfan-Ullah, Senior Manager (GIS), Remote Sensing Applications Group (RSAG).

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0605/p20s01-stct.html?page=1

Source: email communication from Nikhil Lele, Senior Research Associate at ATREE

Study predicts more new species of frogs and grasses likely to be found in Western Ghats than butterflies and birds

A recent study carried out as a collaborative initiative between ATREE and UAS (University of Agricultural Sciences), Bangalore shows that the Western Ghats is more likely to have unidentified species of frogs and grasses rather than birds and butterflies.

Reporting their findings the investigators write, "Our study closely scrutinized the patterns of discovery of eight taxa – birds, butterflies, frogs, tiger beetles, grasses, asters, ferns and orchids – in the Western Ghats, a megadiversity centre in India. We found that the discovery curves for birds and butterflies have been saturated while those for frogs and grasses continue to increase".

Lead investigator in this study was Senior Research Associate from ATREE, N.A. Aravind.


Reference:
Patterns of species discovery in the Western Ghats, a megadiversity hot spot in India. N A Aravind. 1, B Tambat 2, G Ravikanth 1, K N Ganeshaiah 1,3,4 and R Uma Shaanker 1,2,4*. J. Biosci. 32(4), June 2007.

1. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), # 659 5th A Main, Hebbal, Bangalore 560 024, India
2. Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore 560 065, India
3. Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore 560 065, India
4. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scienti. c Research, Jakkur, Bangalore 560 064, India

*Corresponding author (Fax, 91- 80-23530070; Email, rus@vsnl.com)

New frog species found in Sharavathi River basin

A research team that included senior ATREE research associate N A Aravind in collaboration with CES (Centre for Ecological Sciences) and CCMB (Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology) have found a new species of frog. The study was led by K V Gururaja of the Centre for Ecological Science.

The researchers discovered the new species of frog in the Sharavathi River basin of central Western Ghats. The team have identified the new species of frog as belonging to the family, Rhacophoridae.

Describing their findings in the prestigious Journal Zoological Science, the investigators write, " The new frog possesses the characteristic features of rhacophorids. The frog has dilated digit tips with differentiated pads circumscribed by a complete groove, intercalary cartilages on digits, T-shaped terminal phalanges and granular belly and the adaptive characters for arboreal life forms".

The researchers have identified the presence of the frog as an indicator of the health of the habitat. They report, " The distribution pattern of the species suggests its importance as a bioindicator of habitat health. In general, this relatively widespread species was found distributed only in non-overlapping small stretches, which indirectly indicates the fragmentation of the evergreen to moist deciduous forests that characterize the Western Ghats".

Summing up their findings, the team write, " The discovery of the new rhacophorid species not only further reinforces the significance of the Western Ghats as a major hotspot of amphibian biodiversity, but also brings into focus the deterioration of forest habitats in the region and the need for prioritization of their conservation".

Reference: A New Frog Species from the Central Western Ghats of India, and Its Phylogenetic Position. Kotambylu Vasudeva Gururaja1, Nilavara Anantharama Aravind2, Sameer Ali1, T.V. Ramachandra1, Thirumalaisamy Palanichamy Velavan3, Vatsan Krishnakumar3 and Ramesh Kumar Aggarwal3* 1Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Banglore 560-012, India. 2 Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, 659, 5th A Main Road, Hebbal, Bangalore 560-024, India. 3 Molecular Markers Lab, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Tarnaka, Hyderabad 500-007, India. ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE 24: 525–534 (2007)

Article on agro-biodiversity

Agro-biodiversity : role and relevance in agriculture

written in Kannada by Sham Kashyap
Senior Research Associate, ATREE

translated into English by Ms Kalpana Prasanna
Executive Assistant to the Director, ATREE

Biodiversity is an extensively used term in almost all fields related to development. Biodiversity refers to the diverse life forms present in a given area. Biodiversity is essential to maintain the natural balance in the environment. It is a tragedy that the diversity of fauna and flora is decreasing on a global level. In order to protect and nurture the depleting biodiversity, we have various organizations running programmes like CBD by United Nations and treaties like WTO.

Agro-biodiversity is biodiversity limited to agricultural area / field. This includes the crops such as paddy, raagi, jowar and their types, plants and trees that grow in weed-infested areas, greens, cattle, poultry, livestock and their varieties, insects and reptiles found in agricultural land and microscopic organisms found in agricultural land.

Agriculture is a human-driven activity. It has been created to cater to the economic, social, cultural needs of humans; as a result it is almost impossible in most of the situations to protect the natural biodiversity in agricultural areas. It is also a fact that humans cannot control nature. Agriculture is a special profession in the sense that it has to balance between human needs and protect the natural biodiversity in the farm.

Hence, it is essential for agriculture to complement nature rather than compete with it. Humans have learnt this art of co-existence since ancient times through trial and error method. Human beings have put in efforts to understand the unique features of a given region and adapted to agricultural practices to ensure protection of nature and fulfill their needs as well without going on at loggerheads with nature/environment. This traditional knowledge has become the favourite topic for environmentalists and sustainable agriculturists.

However, in recent times, there is an accusation that modern technology which came in along with Green Revolution has upset the natural balance. For example, let us look at the insecticides used. Apart from the pests affecting crops, animals die due to the toxic effects of insecticides. Similarly, the birds and bees too have been decreasing in number. This leads to problems of pollination and, retaining a balance in nature become difficult. There are challenges of social and economic nature which one is faced with while trying to continue the traditional methods.

It is helpful to the agriculturist to protect the biodiversity when examined from this perspective. There have been several scientific studies done on the benefits of conservation of biodiversity; the economic advantage of it and, sustainability of diversity from nature’s perspective. However, it is difficult to indicate with certainity the amount of benefit for human vis-à-vis amount of biodiversity. It is not possible to have comprehensive information encompassing in-depth analysis of presence of various life forms and their complete impact on human life.

When one were to observe the diversity at state level, Karnataka has had plenty of crop diversity right from the start. We cannot grow crops of Kodagu in Mysore. It is difficult to grow crops that are acclimatized to growing in Mysore and trying to growing them at Chitradrurga or Dharwad. The crops found there are not found at Gulbarga.

There are multiple crops on a regional basis in Karnataka with diversity of animal life seen in accordance with the sub-categories of crop. The extremities of weather are responsible for this crop diversity in Karnataka. It is essential to note that the benefits of diversity depend upon the diversity available in a particular land. There are very few studies done which reveal the average diversity found in a farmer’s land in Karnataka. Hence, it becomes difficult to estimate the average benefit experienced by each farmer due to diversity in crops.

Given below are some broad economic, social and natural benefits of protecting agricultural biodiversity:

a) When there is multiple cropping with diversity even if one crop fails, the farmer does not experience heavy loss.
b) If one crop is attacked by pests, the chances of it spreading immediately is lessened due to diversity of crops. Along with this, if there are a variety of bacteria and insects in the land, the spread of pests is controlled.
c) The diversity of the crops must be in line with the environment and weather conditions of a given place. This lessens the impact of natural catastrophes on the land. It also helps to minimize the loss of fertility.
d) Studies done by some NGOs like Deccan Development Society and Medhak Andhra have revealed that traditional methods of conserving agro-biodiversity helps small landholders to have food security without loans and also helps them retain their rights over small/scattered property and get social justice.
e) Agro-biodiversity caters to other needs of the farmer such as fodder along with harvested crop, manure, greens etc.

While the above benefits have been proven by research, the quantum benefits of agro-biodiversity depend upon the practical application.

There are two popular method of conserving biodiversity in the context of agriculture:
a) Traditional (method) biodiversity based on local/traditional/general knowledge. The important aspect under this method is to make use of traditional/local methods/grains to protect and develop locally-suited biodiversity.
b) Protecting biodiversity along with giving more importance to high-yielding, economically beneficial varieties - Here, there is less focus on grains like raagi, jowar and navane which aren’t profitable crops. Commercial crops based on market demand are catered to. They are conserved and attempts to bring about diversity in their produce are made.

This interpretation is used mainly by Government organsiations, industrialists, and management experts. Their stand is that this type of diversity is more profitable for agriculture. Farmers with huge land-holdings, who grow commercial and fruit crops have adopted this method. There is a lot of encouragement for this in Karnataka.

Sometimes biodiversity also leads to loss

a) The maximum income obtained by a single farmer certainly gets reduced by biodiversity. For eg, let us look at Vanilla crop assuming it is the highest profitable crop. If a person has 2 acres land, and plants vanilla in 1 acre and vegetables in the balance 1 acre, there would be a variety of 3-4 crops in a given season. It works out profitable if the harvest is good. If Vanilla were to be grown in the entire 2 acres, it would work out certainly more profitable. However, in the event of crop failure, the farmer growing exclusively vanilla crop will suffer from massive loss. The farmer growing both vanilla and other crops/vegetables can make up for the loss of one crop in another.

b) The benefits that we get from biodiversity depends upon our understanding and implementation of the same. This means the idea/regional experiences with biodiversity come into play. For eg., let us look at Vanilla again. It is definitely not a local crop as far as Karnataka is concerned. If one has this in their land alongwith other crops, the agri-biodiveristy of one’s land certainly gets increased. However, it is not possible to state whether this conserves the balance of nature or if all benefits of biodiversity can be obtained (for eg. variety /diversity in food).

c) Not all animals, plants (even if they are part of nature) are beneficial to agriculture. For eg. if there are 5 types of weeds and insects on the farm, no doubt diversity exists, but it will also destroy the crop harvest.

In conclusion it can be said that apart from the economic and social challenges of agriculture, the impact of agriculture on environment has become a major challenge today. The biodiversity present in agriculture contains the answer to the two issues to some extent. However, research is required on the appropriate use of biodiversity to ensure maximum benefit is obtained. A holistic approach which combines both the local traditional knowledge with modern technology is required.

Translated into English by Ms Kalpana Prasanna, Executive Assistant to the Director, ATREE

The article was originally written in Kannada by Sham Kashyap and published in a Kannada weekly called Vikranta Karnataka.

Sham works as a Senior Research Associate with the Ashoka Trust for Ecology and Environment. His work deals with exploring relationships between land use patterns, government policies and sustainable development.

Don't GOOGLE - BLACKLE

A few months ago, TreeHugger Mark Ontkush wrote a post on his blog EcoIron titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year. The post lays out the following train of thought. "An all white web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts." Google, which has a white background and gets about "200 million queries a day" could reduce global energy use by 750 Megawatt-hours a year by simply changing the color of its homepage to black.

In response to this post a black version of Google emerged called Blackle.com According to Blackle's homepage at publication time, 4,408.917 Watt hours have been saved by . Nice ideas. But how does the search measure up? Very well indeed. Give it a whirl yourself and start saving energy one search at a time.

:: Blackle.com http://blackle.com/

Watch this captivating photofeature!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2007/jun/05/photography?picture=329977040

Remember, the planet's icy mountains are melting fast....and time is running out. Let's hope that earth's saviors working as individual and communities round the globe will successfully resolve the planet's environmental crisis.

And here are two must read articles!

This one is on helping children stay in touch with nature

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/wellbeing/story/0,,2095628,00.html

The second article is a news story about biofuels and how the Colombian paramilitary is driving poor farmers off their land

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/energy/story/0,,2095349,00.html


source: email communication from Mr Samuel Thomas, ATREE's Communications Officer

Express your concern for the Environment on World Environment Day by emailing these lovely photos to your friends and relatives

Sacred groves in the Western Ghats

Bombax ceba in full bloom

Sunset

Mount Everest

Mass flowering of Kurunji

The Himalayas

Agumbe during rains

Solitary tree

Ground orchids

Cup fungus

A view of the Western ghats

Photo credits : Arvind N A, Senior Research Associate, ATREE

Four day Film Festival on Water starts June 7th

Bangalore Film Society and Films for Freedom, Bangalore

With support from Arghyam Foundation

and

In collaboration with Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca College, New York (FLEFF), Water Journeys and Urban Research Centre

present

The Second International Film Festival on Water


VOICES FROM THE WATERS

7th to 11th June 2007

10am to 9pm

at Gurunanak Bhavan, Bangalore.

4 Features

6 Water Voices

24 documentaries,

25 shorts

40 photographs

For more information, explore http://www.voicesfromthewaters.com/

You can get in touch by phone : 91- 80- 25493705/ 9886213516 or email: bfs@bgl.vsnl.net.in


About the Film Festival

Arghyam- safe, sustainable water for all, Bangalore Film Society and Films for Freedom, Bangalore in collaboration with Water Journeys- Forum for the Fundamental Right to Water, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca College (FLEFF) and Urban Research Centre are proud to present the second edition of the International Film Festival on Water titled ‘Voices from the Waters 2007’.

The festival, while attempting to cast light on the looming global water crisis is a vibrant, colorful celebration of ‘water’ in all its liquid blue glory.

Featuring a stirring selection of full length films, short films, animation and documentaries - from cinema classics of Ray, Sathyu and Kasaravalli to early documentaries of Aribam Shyam Sharma to much-acclaimed and groundbreaking new works from film makers all across the globe, the festival attempts to connect the public with everyday, mundane ‘water’ as the source of all life, as the platform for civilization and society, as a precious natural gift, as culture, as pure poetry and as a scarce resource increasingly commodified.

The festival will also serve as a platform to the voices of grassroots level water activists from Bihar, Kerala, Rajasthan, Bengal and all across the nation who will narrate evocatively, testimonies from lives lived and spent in the name of water. Film-makers, present at the screening of their films will interact with the audience and share their experience.

The four days of the film festival and storytelling will culminate with a conference which will allow the general public, film-makers, policy markers and grassroots level activists to interact on a common platform.

The Festival Conferences will focus on water equity and ecological issues. Water Equity will address the issues of how the poor will access safe, potable water for their daily necessities as well as for their livelihood, while ecological issues primarily will focus on management of water resources and sustainability.

Since its conception, the second festival of ‘Voices from the Waters’ has been generating a lot of national and international interest. We have received over 140 films from 40 countries across the globe for the 2007 edition.

We invite you to participate in this celebration of life itself and lend further color, noise and depth to the festival. The festival venue provides you with an opportunity to exhibit/share your publications, films, songs, posters on the water issues.

The space for the stalls will be provided free of cost. (on first come, first serve basis)

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water" - Loran Eisley

For more information, please contact:-
Georgekutty A.L.
Secretary
Tel: 91- 80- 25493705/ 9886213516 Email: bfs@bgl.vsnl.net.in

Programme Schedule: FOR CHILDREN

Total Screening Time – 90 minutes

Batch 1 and 3

Name of Film, duration and time of screening

1. LET’S NOT DISTURB THE WATER - 22 min - 10-10.22
2. VILLAGE OF DUST, CITY OF WATER - 28 min - 10.22-10.50 am
3. RADIO NONMDAA - 15 min - 10.50 am-11.05 am
4. CAPTAIN PLANET - 23 min - 11.05 am-11.30 am

Batch 2 and 4

Time of screening the above mentioned films

1. 11.45 am-12.07 pm

2. 12.07-12.35 pm

3. 12.35 pm-12.50 pm

4. 12.50 pm-1.15 am

JUNE 7, 2007 (Thursday) – REGULAR SCREENINGS + INAUGURATION

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Session 1 - (2pm - 4pm)

1) 1000 DAYS AND A DREAM (77) - 2pm-3.30 pm
2) ZONE OF INITIAL DILUTION (30) -3.30 pm-4 pm

Tea Break - 4 pm - 4.15 pm

Session 2 - (4.15 pm – 5.45 pm)

1) WATER AND FILM EVENT SPOTS -4.15 pm-4.20 pm
2) GANASHATRU(93) -4.20 pm-5.50 pm

Break (To prepare auditorium for Inauguration) -5.45 pm - 6.15 pm

6.15 pm – 7.15 pm

Inauguration
Invocation - A WINDOW FACING THE SUN (12mins)
Water Songs
Floating of Lamps and Speeches

Inaugural Film - WE CORNER PEOPLE (50mins) - 7.15 pm – 8.15 pm

JUNE 8, 2007 (Friday)

(Session 1) -2 pm - 4 pm

1) CUTTING OFF A LIFELINE (62) - 2 pm-3.15 pm
2) GANGA FROM THE GROUND UP (43.41) - 3.15 pm-4 pm

Coffee / Tea Break - 4 pm - 4.15 pm

Water Voice – Shivaji Kagnikar (Belgaum) - 4.15 pm - 4.45 pm
Semi-arid and drought prone area - 4.45 to 6.45 pm

(Session 2)
DWEEPA (100) - 4.45 – 6.45 pm

Coffee / Tea Break -6.45 - 7 pm

7– 7.30 pm
Water Voice – Pokkudan (Kerala) -
Coastal Littoral Zone - where land meets the sea

(Session 3) - 7.30 pm to 9 pm

1) THE LOST WATER (25.21) - 7.30 pm – 8.15 pm
2) SOLITARY CEDAR (4) - 8.15 pm – 8.20 pm
3) MOUNTAINS IN THE MIST (42) - 8.20 pm – 9.02 pm

JUNE 9, 2007 (Saturday)

(Session 1) - 10 am to 11.15 am

1) FLOW (4.26) - 10.05 am-11.15 am

2) FAECAL ATTRACTION (32) - 11.15 to 11.30 am

Tea Break - 11.30am – 1.30 pm

(Session 2)

1) THE DESERT’S VOICE (9.50) - 11.30 am-11.40 am
2) SVARAJ (90) - 11.45 am-1.30 pm

Lunch - 1.30 pm – 2 pm

(Session 3) - 2.00 pm - 4 pm

1) SEA IN THE BLOOD (26) - 2 pm-2.26 pm
2) SHADOWS OF TEHRI (45) - 2.30 pm-3.15 pm
3) THE DISAPPEARING OF TUVALU (50) - 3.15 pm-4.05 pm

Tea Break - 4 pm to 4.15 pm

4.15 to 4.45 pm
Water Voice – FARHAD CONTRACTOR
Desert and Semi arid area

(Session 4) - 4.45 pm to 6.45 pm

1) VILLAGE OF DUST CITY OF WATER (28) - 4.45 pm-5.30 pm
2) NOR ANY DROP TO DRINK (23) - 5.30 pm-6 pm
3) THE NEVER NEVER WATER (48) - 6 pm-6.48 pm

Tea Break - 6.45 pm - 7 pm

7 pm to 7.30pm
Water Voice – CHATTER SINGH
Desert Eco- Systems

(Session 5) - 7.30- 9 pm

1) BHANGAN (60) - 7.30 pm-8.45 pm
2) LET’S NOT DISTURB THE WATER (22) - 8.45 pm – 9.10 pm

JUNE 10, 2007 (Sunday)

(Session 1) - 10 am to 11.15 am

1) THE BEGINNING (3.31) - 10 am-10.05 am
2) AL OTRO LADO (70) - 10.05 am-11.15 am

Coffee - Tea Break - 11.15 to 11.30 am

(Session 2) - 11.30am-1.30pm

1) LOKTAK (58) - 11.30 am-12.45 pm
2) THE RAINY SEASON (38) - 12.45 am-1.30 pm

Lunch - 1.30 pm – 2 pm

(Session 3) - 2 pm - 4 pm

1) THE DEVIL’S WATER (53) - 2 pm – 3 pm
2) DUI PAATON KE BEECH MEIN (53) - 3 pm –4 pm

Coffee / Tea Break - 4 pm to 4.15 pm

4.15 to 4.45 pm
Water Voice - EKALAVYA PRASAD AND GROUP
Flood plains of Bihar

(Session 4) - 4.45 pm to 6.45

1) OLD SEA AND THE MAN (74) - 4.45 pm –6.15 pm
2) GHARAT (41.00) - 6.15 pm – 6.45 pm

Tea Break - 6.45 pm - 7 pm

7 pm to 7.30 pm

Water Voice - PREMJI
Flood plains of Bihar

(Session 5) - 7.30- 9 pm
1) BARA (120) -7.30 pm-9.30 pm

Source: email communication from Arghyam Foundation