RicoSturdivant at 09:10, 13 March 2026

2026-03-13T09:10:27Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian conservationist, citizen ornithologist and scientist}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Taukeer Alam Lodha<ref name="earlybird"/>
|image =File:Taukeer Alam.jpg
|caption=Alam in November 2019
|image_size =
|birth_date =
|birth_place = [[Rajaji National Park]],<ref name="scroll"/> [[Uttarakhand]], India
|death_place =
|occupation = {{Hlist |Environmentalist |citizen scientist}}
| spouse =
| children =
}}

'''Taukeer Alam Lodha''' is an Indian [[nature conservation]]ist, writer, [[community education|community educator]] and birder from [[Uttarakhand]]. He has documented the traditional knowledge of the [[Van Gujjar people]] from the [[Sivalik Hills]] region, authoring three books<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Fellow Update: Taukeer Alam |url=https://inlaksfoundation.org/community/updates/fellow-update-taukeer-alam/ |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation |language=en}}</ref> and translating over 170 children's books in his native language, [[Van Gujjari]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Free Online Children's Stories To Read {{!}} StoryWeaver |url=https://storyweaver.org.in/en/stories?language=Van%20Gujjari%20%28Devanagari%20Script%29&query=&sort=Ratings |website=storyweaver.org.in/ |access-date=11 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref> He has established community-based education from displaced Van Gujjar families and worked with the state forest department to educate over 4,000 students on [[environmental protection]].<ref name=":0"/> He is a 2022 [[Inlaks Shivdasani]] Fellow,<ref name=":0" /> a [[Sanctuary Asia]] awardee<ref name="pioneer">{{cite web |last1=Pioneer |first1=The |title=Sanctuary Asia awardees honoured by BTDT |url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2020/state-editions/sanctuary-asia-awardees-honoured-by-btdt.html |website=The Pioneer |access-date=29 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref> and a [[Tata Steel|Samvaad Fellow]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tata Steel Foundation: Funding and celebrating tribal communities |url=https://causebecause.com/tata-steel-foundation-funding-celebrating-tribal-communities/7983 |website=CauseBecause |access-date=29 December 2024 |date=29 December 2020}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
[[File:OpenSpeaks-Gju-Taukeer-Alam-Introduction.webm|thumb|Alam introducing himself in documentary ''MarginalizedAadhaar'']]
Alam was born into the [[Van Gujjar people|Van Gujjar tribe]] in [[Uttarakhand]], and grew up in [[Rajaji National Park]], developing an early interest in observing wildlife, particularly birds.<ref name="scroll">{{cite web |last1=Chakrabarty |first1=Arpita |title=Meet Taukeer Alam, the school dropout who has become one of Uttarakhand's top birders |url=https://scroll.in/magazine/895647/meet-taukeer-alam-the-school-dropout-who-has-become-one-of-uttarakhands-top-birders |website=Scroll.in |access-date=29 December 2024 |language=en |date=19 November 2018}}</ref> His grandparents were [[transhumance|nomadic pastorialists]], migrating from Rajaji with their [[water buffalo]] herds to the grasslands in the upper [[Himalayas]] during summer, and migrating back to Rajaji post monsoons. In 1983 Rajaji was declared a national park, forcing the Van Gujjars to quit pastorialism and relocate outside of the forest, and work as agricultural labourers. Following a larger disruption in 2003 his family moved to [[Gaindi Khata]] near [[Haridwar]] when he was nine. He was admitted to school but dropped out<ref name="pioneer"/> within days, staying at home for the following two years. In 2018 he graduated from high school through [[distance education]].<ref name="vikalpsangam">{{cite web |last1=Chakrabarty |first1=Arpita |title=Meet Taukeer Alam, the school dropout who has become one of Uttarakhand's top birders |url=https://vikalpsangam.org/article/birder-taukeer-alam-uttarakhand/ |website=Vikalp Sangam |access-date=29 December 2024 |language=en |date=3 December 2018}}</ref>

== Career ==
At the age of 18, he started assisting researchers from the [[Bangalore]]-based [[Centre for Ecological Sciences]] at the [[Indian Institute of Science]] that were then visiting Rajaji and<ref name="sanctuarynaturefoundation">{{cite web |title=Taukeer Alam |url=https://sanctuarynaturefoundation.org/award/taukeer-alam |website=sanctuarynaturefoundation.org |access-date=29 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref> ecologist Soumya Prasad invited him to assist in research.<ref name="scroll"/> Later he joined the [[Nature Science Initiative]] at [[Dehradun]] as a field coordinator where he taught himself data collection and analysis,<ref name="pioneer"/> assisting in field research.<ref name="scroll"/> In six years he became one of the most prominent birders from Uttarakhand.<ref>{{cite web |title=eBirders - Uttarakhand, India - eBird |url=https://ebird.org/region/IN-UL/ebirders?yr=BIGDAY_2018a |website=ebird.org |access-date=29 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="mongabay">{{cite news |last1=Chandramouli |first1=Kartik |title=[Video] Binoculars showed the way to this 23-year-old citizen scientist |url=https://india.mongabay.com/2018/07/video-binoculars-showed-the-way-to-this-23-year-old-citizen-scientist/ |access-date=29 December 2024 |work=Mongabay-India |date=11 July 2018}}</ref>

== Community education ==
It was reported in 2023 that Alam and his friends conducted a survey in 2018 or earlier, finding out about 600 out of 3,200 being enrolled in schools, and only about 100 attending schools.<ref name="villagesquare">{{cite web |last1=Thakur |first1=Jyoti |title=Community classrooms sow hope among Van Gujjar children |url=https://www.villagesquare.in/community-classrooms-sow-hope-among-van-gujjar-children/ |website=Village Square |access-date=29 December 2024 |date=30 January 2023}}</ref> In 2018 he and with his Van Gujjar friends established a school in [[Laldhang]] to teach children from the Van Gujjar settlements.<ref name="villagesquare"/> Later this team established an organisation called Maee ("buffalo caretaker" in Van Gujjari) to educate children.<ref name="villagesquare"/> At Maee he also created teaching materials like nature-based games and used traditional games and folktales to teach environmental conservation.<ref name="earlybird">{{cite web |title=Meet an Educator: Taukeer Alam Lodha – Early Bird |url=https://www.early-bird.in/meet-an-educator-taukeer-alam-lodha/ |website=Early Bird |access-date=29 December 2024 |date=7 December 2022}}</ref> In 2019 he and the Maee team established a community-run library in his house.<ref name="villagesquare"/> In 2022, the number of students came down to 100 from 250 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name="villagesquare"/> He has been collaborating with the forest department to take children for [[Nature conservation|environmental conservation]] trips, teaching them about [[seed dispersal]] and other bird behaviour through [[birdwatching]] festivals and training programmes.<ref name="scroll"/>

== Selected works ==
* {{cite book |last1=Alam |first1=Taukeer |title=Vana Gujjarī Kahāniyāṃ |date=April 2024 |publisher=Maee}}
* {{cite book |last1=Alam |first1=Taukeer |title=Vana Gujjarī Hindī Śabdakośa |date=April 2024 |publisher=Maee}}
* {{cite book |last1=Alam |first1=Taukeer |title=Vana Gujjarī Baiṃta: Vana Gujjarī Gīta |date=April 2024 |publisher=Maee}}
* {{cite book |last1=Alam |first1=Taukeer |title=Bajarāta Te Khvāna: Vana Gujjarī Paheliyām̐ Aura Lokokatiyām̐ |date=April 2024 |publisher=Maee}}

== See also ==
* [[Van Gujjar people]]
* [[Gurjars in Uttarakhand]]
* [[Van Gujjari]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alam, Taukeer}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Activists from Uttarakhand]]
[[Category:Writers from Uttarakhand]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
https://bioone.org/journals/acta-ornithologica/volume-60/issue-1/00016454AO2025.60.1.007/Reproductive-Ecology-of-the-Threatened-Great-Slaty-Woodpecker-Mulleripicus-pulverulentus/10.3161/00016454AO2025.60.1.007.short Reproductive Ecology of the Threatened Great Slaty Woodpecker Mulleripicus pulverulentus

Taukeer Alam - Revision history

RicoSturdivant at 09:10, 13 March 2026