The Great African Seaforest

(Click on the image for a larger view)

In one of my lengthiest and most detailed illustration projects yet, I got the honour of working closely with the fabulous team at The Seachange Project (creators of the Oscar winning documentary 'My Octopus Teacher')- to create a vision of hope for the Great African Seaforest, a vast expanse of kelp forest in the Atlantic Ocean along the western coast of South Africa. From the glamorous Cape Fur Seal, Cape Clawless Otter and the African Penguin to little known klipfish and limpets, the Great African Seaforest is home to a myriad marine organisms that make the kelp a living, breathing, and a dancing ecosystem! Many of these creatures are threatened by overfishing and anthropogenic disturbances today, and conservationists at the Seachange Project are working towards establishing safe, undisturbed habitats for these species to bounce back.

The illustration is available as a freely downloadable resource on the organization's website here. A massive thanks to the Seachange team (Swati Thiyagarajan, Craig Foster, Carina Frankal, Dani Ehrlich, Jannes Landschoff) for trusting me with the illustration, for having me at Cape Town for a field visit, and for their patience through the project!

Environmental Threats to Ladakh

Mass hunger strikes and protests are underway in Ladakh for environmental, cultural and governmental safeguards. But Ladakh's wildlife doesn't even need to go on a hunger strike! 

Comic for The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

The Saga of the Saiga Antelope

If you too have had a long face reading about the decimation of the Saiga Antelope's populations from hunting and disease over the years, there's some news that might bring a smile to your face too! Efforts by the Kazakh government, NGOs and people have paid off enough to bring the Saiga from critically endangered to near-threatened on the IUCN Red List. In these times, that's a long jump, even for an antelope!

Not-so-fun-fact: The bird in the comic strip, a Sociable Lapwing, is a critically endangered steppe species too.

Comic for DW Envronment.

World Frog Day with the Purple Frog

Join the endemic Purple Frogs for some underground JOMO this World Frog Day!

Comic for my RoundGlass Sustain column.

Mahua Season

It's Mahua season in Indian forests! Cartoon for The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Carbon Credits

How carbon credits 'magically' transform the planet! From my GoComics page also available royalty free on CartoonStock.

Green Credits Programme

After earning a dubious reputation the world over, carbon credits are coming to India in the form of the Green Credits Programme. After decades of consistently failing to preserve wetlands, grasslands and scrublands, the MoEFCC and the Government of India refuse to even recognize these as crucial ecosystems. Cartoon from my column with The Hindu. 

Whale Hybridization

New studies have found that hybridization between two of the largest animals on earth- the Blue Whale and the Fin Whale, is far more common than previously thought. What's more, some of these hybrids have also found to be fertile, indicating the occurrence to be beneficial particularly for the endangered Blue Whale! 

Cartoon for Roundglass Sustain. 

Nepal: Mountains, People, Biodiversity

(click on the image for a larger view)

Every mountaineer dreams of summiting the Himalayas where they are at their mightiest- Nepal. As an illustrator and an orophile, my dream of summiting Nepal's mountains was through drawing them, and this map of our beautiful neighbour's biodiversity, mountains and people, created for the International Mountain Museum at Pokhara, was the perfect opportunity! From the tallest peaks in the world to the most pristine grasslands, from creatures as large as the Wild Yak and the bone-cracking Lammergeiers, to the diminutive Hispid Hare and the Himalayan Newt, from intricate architectural marvels like the Darbar Square monuments to the rustic Mustang Caves, here is Nepal in all its glory.

Nepal's majesty, mystique and aura can never be justly captured in illustration, and certainly not contemporary illustration. So when this challenge was thrown at me, I was convinced that incorporating stylistic elements from its indigenous art form Paubha (the precursor to Himalayan Thangka) would be the only way of doing justice to a project of this nature. I must convey a huge thanks to Samuel Thomas for facilitating a visit to the veteran Nepalese Paubha artist Lok Chitrakar's art studio, where I received some very important quick tips and insights into not just the art form but also the mind of the Paubha artists who he trains. 

The map will soon be on display at the International Mountain Museum. If you happen to visit Pokhara, do pay the museum a visit!

Marine Soundscapes and Ocean Health

Soundscapes recorded on acoustic recorders give us an idea of changes, both natural and human-made, to wild habitats.

What song would you play if you were a reef fish facing an acoustic recorder?

Cartoon for DW Environment.

The Indian Metropolis Growth Model

Growth, Indian metropolis style. Cartoon for The Hindu.