Building castles in the sea

Pankaj Sekhsaria's Islands in Flux: The Andaman and Nicobar Story highlights misguided government policies and their deleterious impact on the archipelago's people, forests and wildlife

- Syed Saad Ahmed

The edible-nest swiftlet builds its nest entirely with its saliva. Regarded as a delicacy and prized in Chinese cuisine and pharmacy, the nest is one of the most expensive animal products in the world. In India, they can be found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In the late 1990s, the ornithologist Ravi Sankaran estimated that overharvesting of the nests had led to an 80% decline in the bird's population in the islands, putting it at risk of extinction.

However, stopping the nests' harvest and sale was not the solution. Rather, commercially farming and selling the in-demand commodity could help conserve the species. It could also yield economic benefits in a region where livelihood options were limited. In 2003, however, the Indian government increased legal protections for the swiftlet. The scientist and author Pankaj Sekhsaria dubs this "extinction by protection", in his collection of essays Islands in Flux: The Andaman and Nicobar Story. Six years later, the government reversed its decision, but the nest's proposed commercialisation never took off.

Sekhsaria's book highlights misguided policies like this one, and their deleterious impact on the archipelago's indigenous communities, forests and wildlife. It comprises essays from the late 1990s onwards, academic papers, and obituaries, along with resources such as court orders and a historical timeline. First published in 2017, an updated edition of the anthology was released this year in light of the Indian government's push to build a shipping terminal, airport and power plant, among other infrastructure projects, in the ecologically sensitive region.