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Person
of the Month in July 2004: |
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“There
are too many ‘bookshelf-scientists’ …I am interested
in ‘applied science’ “ |
Ghana, how long have you been in Switzerland now? Have you been here
before?
I have been in Switzerland for nearly a year now, but I went back to Nepal
for field research between January and April 2004. My first visit to Switzerland
was in 1998 when I visited our WWF Head Office in Gland (VD) for an orientation
training.
Are you here by yourself, or with your family? – Do you miss
anything from home?
Yes, I am here on my own, pursuing my PhD, away from family back in Nepal, a
choice that our family has made. I miss my wife Anita and daughter Mendhala
a lot, as well as other family members and friends. I regularly call my family
and keep myself updated about the latest developments taking place in Nepal,
for instance through nepalnews.
Besides my family, I guess I don’t miss anything, because I have very
supportive supervisors and friends here making my Swiss life easier and ‘meaningful’.
What’s the greatest difference for you - living here in Switzerland?
The greatest difference goes under the motto “systematic Swiss and
chaotic Nepali” – that is, the way the Swiss system works and how
one has to adapt to the functioning system. For instance, I have never experienced
busses leaving on time ... in Nepal, you can be late, at least, by a few minutes,
if you want to catch a bus. But here I nearly miss the train when I get down
to the platform just in time !
Another, more personal difference from my life: at home in Nepal I live in a
house, together with my family – here, in Zurich, I have a room, for myself
– and also, switching from professional back to a student life after such
a long time is a very different experience for me. You know, I am a ‘hybrid’
actually, I am from the South, but I am doing my PhD here in the North, in Switzerland,
which means I will be living here for another two years.
When you read up the news from your country … in what way do
the (recent) political turmoils in Nepal influence your life ?
I get worried, of course, but it’s beyond my control…. You know,
most of my education I received abroad. For instance, I spent 6 ½ years
in New Zealand, for my Bachelor and my Masters… besides, I have always
traveled a lot for my work, and I am doing my PhD here in Switzerland. Thus,
I go for a ‘skilled migrant’…. I could live anywhere. But
I choose the more difficult life, I want to go back to Nepal….. If only
I can make a small contribution to my country, my life will be more meaningful.
What are your hopes, wishes for your country?
That we’ll make more progress! Lots of people are suffering from poverty,
especially in the remote places life is very difficult – about 40-50 %
live in poverty (population Nepal: 23.2 mio.). I come from a village that lacks
all basic amenities (drinking water, sanitation systems, schools, etc.). When
I was little, I had to walk 3 days to reach my school, up and down the valleys…
so, of course, I had to live with my relatives. Thus, I want to help my country
to make progress, make some contribution.. and be it only small.
What’s the funniest, or strangest thing you encountered here?
One unbelievable incidence was that, last October, my hand bag was stolen
within a split of seconds, from right under my nose, and in a broad daylight,
while I was having a hamburger at McDonalds in Zurich.
But the strangest encounter I had was when 2 weeks ago I was relaxing in the
park next to the central train station. There, a man, in his early 30s, come
to sit next to me, and started talking to me, saying “you look a nice
man and have strong legs and arms” ….and then he said “I will
give you 100 francs”. Of course, I wondered why he wanted to give me money,
and I said “No, no”. But then he said again “I will give 150
francs … we can use condom” . Then I guessed what he was up to and
I told him to get out of my way….
Theft, prostitution, … are these things which do not (openly)
happen in Nepal?
Yes, they do, but it ….this is ‘nice Switzerland’! It
was broad day light, and a ‘safe’ public place… both things
just happened out of the blue, at an unexpected time, at an unexpected place.
Your PhD programme is within the NCCR N-S. How did you get to work
in the NCCR N-S programme?
I got to work in the NCCR through my connection with Professor Dr. Ulrike
Müller-Böker and Dr. Michael Kollmair from the Department of Geography,
at the University of Zurich, whom I got to know when I was hired by the WWF
Nepal to implement a
new conservation project in the Eastern Nepal in 1998. In the same year Professor
Müller-Böker and Dr Kollmair visited the project site, the Kangchenjunga
Conservation Area (KCA), with their students. After further visits they found
that the project approach is worth further scientific investigation and documentation,
and it is against this background that I started my PhD project.
Can you tell us something about your research?
My project is implemented based on the lessons learnt from the success of
Annapurna Conservation Area Project
and other protected areas.
And at the core of my research? – I want to find answers for the improvement
of the livelihoods of local people living in protected areas, without compromising
the protection of biological diversity. In another words, based on the lessons
learnt in a case study, I am trying to explore alternative approaches to the
existing conservation approach, one that allows to enhance the balancing between
nature conservation and the needs of the local people for a sustainable livelihood
in and around protected areas.
How did you get interested in this kind of research?
By heart and to some extent also by religion - I am a Buddhist - I simply
love nature. I spent my childhood herding yaks and goats up in the high mountain
pastures in summer, together with my grandfather, and my winters I spent in
a cave with my lama uncle, a monk, who taught me Tibetan and Buddhism –
till the age of 13 I did not attend a ‘regular’ school.
Later on, I have always enjoyed conservation work because it has provided me
with immense pleasure and ample opportunity to work with wildlife and plants,
as well as with people. However, my main motivation to pursue this PhD research
has been to find ways and means that allow me to contribute to both conservation
and hundreds of thousands of poor people, who suffer directly or indirectly
from conservation measures.
What are the most important books, papers, people, etc. for your research?
There are many article writers like Ostrom E., Pimbert M. L., Brown K.,
Brechin S. R. and Salafsky N. etc. in my research field, whom I admire and take
as an academic role models.
But the most important people for my research are obviously my supervisors,
Professor Dr. Ulrike
Müller-Böker and Dr. Michael
Kollmair. Even now with their supervision and support, I struggle to tune
myself into the academic exercise due to the fact that I had been doing more
than 12 years of practical work in the field after my master degree.
There are also other NCCR N-S PhD researchers Mbeyale
Ernest Gimbage (IP6) from Tanzania and
Shahbaz Babar (IP6) from Pakistan, with whom I exchange ideas and results.
We are now trying to write a joint article on community-based natural resource
management practices, focusing on forest resources. Recently, I have also been
exchanging ideas with Karina
Liechti (IP1) from Berne, because both of us are in the “People and
Projected Areas (PPA)” network of the NCCR North-South. In fact, we have
just made a joint presentation to the Commission for Research Partnerships with
Developing Countries (KFPE).
The main goal of the NCCR N-S is the mitigation of syndromes of global
change. What are the impacts of your PhD for mitigation?
My PhD research results will directly be used by the WWF
in Nepal. WWF is the biggest private global conservation network and has
taken many sites specific and innovative conservation measures in Nepal and
elsewhere to deal with conservation issues, both locally and globally. The strategies
worked out in my PhD will be integrated into conservation and development projects
in Nepal, including my own case study area project, or also other countries.
Thus, my PhD results will definitely help minimizing the negative impacts of
conservation measures on local people living in protected areas - and vice versa.
What do you think of the NCCR N-S programme? Where do you see its particular
potentials?
The NCCR has a huge potential to transfer knowledge and technology between
the North and the South, and among the Southern countries during the time while
the NCCR N-S is ‘in operation’. Yet, what should be ensured is that
this strong network will be kept up and ‘sustained’ also in the
further future.
What would you like to improve within the NCCR N-S?
As a PhD student, it would be fruitful if NCCR-N-S could employ a highly-qualified
person with inter-and trans-disciplinary research background to monitor and
support PhD students. Most students need support at the stages of their research
design, for their data analysis, the thesis/article framing and finally their
career planning.
It would also be nice if there was an automated email track down on a monthly
basis to tell each NCCR- N-S member that they should be logging in every now
and then - just to keep them updated on what is going on in the common NCCR
N-S network. For instance, these interviews… if I had not logged in this
month, June, I would have missed Silvia Hostettler’s interview! But it’s
an opportunity to get to know the people at least a little bit, and it’s
good to read the question about the NCCR, e.g. what should be improved, and
what would be a better way of doing something etc. – this is research,
and a chance for the NCCR! If there is 12 smart people interviewed by the end
of a year, you can do some internal research about the NCCR North-South.
What would be the best way for co-operation between the North and the
South to reach the NCCR goals, in your opinion?
The best way, to my mind, to further strengthen the relationship between
the North and the South scientists and their research institutions is by making
cost-effective investments from the North to the South, and by finding means
to optimize the use of research findings in a practical sense. Many researchers
are only sitting ‘in the shelves’. But if things are not ‘applicable’,
not practical and useful, they don’t make sense to me. I am interested
in ‘applied science’.
What is your personal wish, for yourself, your life?
My very personal wish is to live and finally die happily, without causing
any suffering to others. For, the meaning of life to me is, that I can “live
to work”. And I wish that my work will help many people in Nepal and elsewhere
who are less fortunate than me, to overcome their sufferings whatever that could
be, including conservation.
… and then, after saying this, we had to jump up, running for
Ghana’s train: through the park, up the hill, over the stone wall, and
towards the station…and Ghana almost missed the train back to Zurich.
Almost. - Thanks, Ghana, for the interview.