Did you know the female Indian Bank Mantis will sometimes eat her suitor during copulation? Or that the presence of the pretty yellow flowers of Rattle pod ( crotalaria quinquefolia) indicate a very high water table in the area?
These are just a couple of interesting facts about the variety of flora and fauna found in Moira, a quaint village in North Goa.
All these tidbits, with some amazing images of moths, butterflies, spiders, caterpillars, birds, wild plants, grasses, flowers are part of a photo book, Moira Diversity. The book, by Goa-based photographer David de Souza, is supported by scientific and intriguing information by writer Karen Tewari. It, in many ways, celebrates the biodiversity mainly found in the backyards of Goan villages and cities.
Documenting life
Herpetologist and wildlife photographer, Nirmal Kulkarni in his foreword says, “Goa is blessed with an astonishingly vast array of biodiversity that is both mind-boggling and intriguing. There is enchanted natural drama happening in every Goan backyard, even today!”
Sixty-nine year-old de Souza, who is not a wildlife photographer, started photo-documenting his gardens and backyard simply for the joy of it when he moved here seven years ago with his wife. He never intended to publish a book until 2020. “In essence, it took me four and a half monsoons to record most of these creatures. However during the first bout of Covid, a feeling of mortality made me organise the work,” says de Souza.
The book lists 137 species of flora and fauna that even includes rare ones like Volupe Jumping spider ( chrysilla volupe). It is a spider that was discovered in Gujarat in 1868 by renowned arachnologist, Dr Ferdinand Karsch. However, for 150 years, it was considered extinct, until 2018 when it was re-discovered by a group of entomologists at Wayanad. It is now also found in Moira.
Knowledge is the first step
Even though this book is a visual delight, de Souza never intended to print the book as it was an expensive affair. A free, online version was offered to the Moira panchayat and Moira-Net, a local online forum, and other social media platforms. And then Goa-based group, Living Heritage, serendipitously found this project and decided to offset print it. The printed copies of the book were well-received and are available on demand.
Along with images of creatures and plants the book has also captured the landscape and portraits of some senior citizens of the village.
While documenting and compiling the data, de Souza discovered the meaning of being patient and what diversity is. “Nature abhors the homogeneous. Each one intrinsically knows that they depend on each other, the wind, the seasons, the rain, heat, deciduous leaves, the cycle; each one is tuned into it perfectly. If only humans would learn this.”
Meanwhile, for Tewari, knowing about these species is the first step towards conservation. “The sense of knowing about something makes it (hopefully) more precious and therefore worth saving. I feel that if we can document biodiversity in more familiar terms, people may feel close enough and may think twice before letting them come to harm.”
For details about the book, priced ₹3000, contact hello@livingheritage.life
