00:00These tiny dragons of the mountain ponds are older than the Himalayas themselves.
00:06But in the Darjeeling Mountains, they're under threat.
00:10Scientists warn it's not only their survival that's at stake.
00:19Often called living fossils, Himalayan salamanders have retained much of their ancient form for millions of years.
00:26They act as environmental barometers, among the first species to suffer when climate changes, habitat is lost or pollution damages
00:35an ecosystem.
00:37And that is exactly what's been happening in their only habitat in India, the Darjeeling Himalayan region.
00:46Conservation scientist Barkha Subha grew up in Darjeeling and has dedicated her career to protecting the region's biodiversity.
00:56Her work on Himalayan salamander conservation earned her the prestigious Whitley Award in 2026, also called the Green Oscar.
01:04One of her early achievements in these conservation efforts is this fenced-off no-entry zone in Majidora, a small
01:12forest village in Darjeeling.
01:18Majidora, as you can see, is one of the major strongholds of Himalayan salamander.
01:24And during the rainy season, what happens is there are these temporary puddles which get filled with water.
01:30And then this is where the Himalayan salamander comes and breathes every monsoon season.
01:35So that is why this place is really important because there is a forest, there is a wetland.
01:41And this area is not only a habitat for the Himalayan salamander, it is also a catchment area for the
01:48downstream streams and rivers and villages.
01:53Majidora's landscapes are reminiscent of the famous Pahalgam Valley in Kashmir.
01:59After the terror attacks in Pahalgam in 2025, Majidora gained a reputation as a mini Pahalgam, attracting tourists who chose
02:08it as an alternative.
02:09But what seemed like an opportunity soon became a conservation concern.
02:17The tourism was quite unregulated and there was a lot of footfall here, trampling of the habitat and the habitat
02:27got disturbed.
02:28And the plants which were supposed to be there, like the Bojo, Polygonum, they are slowly disappearing.
02:35More visitors meant more income for local residents.
02:40Barkar Suba did not want conservation to disrupt livelihoods, so worked with local authorities and the Forest Department.
02:47Their agreement?
02:48During the breeding season, access to the core habitat is temporarily restricted.
02:54Together they formed a salamander conservation committee.
02:58Village veteran, Danu Sherpa, who leads the committee, now helps plant Acorus calamus, or Bojo grass, that traps water underneath,
03:08making it a fertile breeding ground for salamanders.
03:35The enthusiasm to save salamanders has spread among locals.
03:40They increasingly see salamander conservation as part of the region's long-term identity and an opportunity for their village.
03:50Barkar Suba and her team continue monitoring salamanders through regular field surveys, often at night, when the animals are most
03:59active.
04:04Protecting salamanders is about more than simply safeguarding a species.
04:09Restoring catchment areas not only helps salamanders survive.
04:13The water trapped during monsoons in these wetlands and marshlands in high-altitude villages, like Majidura, is what makes water
04:21available to downstream villages year-round.
04:29Dukpa Gaur is one such downstream village.
04:33Resident Shamila Shama relies on that water coming from the hills.
04:52Dukpa Gaur, a small village of barely 70 households, might still be safe from the brunt of water scarcity, the
04:59Darjeeling region is not, despite the fact that rainfall is abundant.
05:07Rainfall is huge here, more than 1,000 millimeter, I guess, annually.
05:11But the problem is we cannot catch it.
05:13Natural catchments are there, that is called wetland.
05:15If they are vanished, then we will not be able to catch the waters.
05:18And there will be no recharge of the rivers, no recharge of the jhoras, and no recharge of the underground
05:23storage.
05:24The fate of the wetlands is closely tied to the fate of the salamanders.
05:30Earlier there were more than 100 areas where they were found, because there were more than 100 wetlands in Darjeeling
05:36district.
05:37But over time we have lost it to the development.
05:40Only 20 percent is left.
05:41The Forest Department is working closely with Barkar Suba to raise awareness, planting suitable species and creating protected zones like
05:51Majidura and artificial wetlands in the hilly areas, and identifying potential salamander sanctuary spots.
06:00At least three tea gardens that have natural ponds with salamanders in them are also following Barkar's advice.
06:08Here researchers collect climate data, test water quality, monitor salamander populations and improve breeding conditions.
06:28The goal is simple, restore habitats before they disappear completely.
06:34The salamanders are there, but I think the population has gone down, which is a concern.
06:38But I think we are on the right path of restoring it and getting the salamander back to its glory
06:45days of what it used to be.
06:47There are people who are very interested in this place to make it into a resort.
06:51There are people who are very interested to convert this into something commercial, which we don't want them to do.
06:59We don't want this place to become another, if I can quote by saying, I don't want this place to
07:05become another jholpokhari.
07:07Conservationists say places like Joripokhari or Mirik serve as warnings.
07:13Over decades, wetland ecosystems were altered to support tourism.
07:17Once a natural habitat of salamanders, the lakes were concretized to attract tourists.
07:24Ducks and non-native fish were introduced into the ponds, altering the natural ecosystems.
07:30And tourists feed the fish.
07:32The consequences for salamanders have been severe.
07:36The recorded number of salamander habitats has reduced by up to 50%.
07:44Yet there are grounds for optimism.
07:47There are still many backyard salamander habitats that are unrecorded.
07:50In Mirik, conservationists R.P. Gurung and Barkha Subha are jointly trying to save salamander habitats with the help of
08:00mindful traveling.
08:05So I'm hoping to, you know, create posters, maybe engage school children here, you know, to come and see for
08:14themselves and then have some sort of a educative, you know, thing about the whole life cycle of this creature,
08:22its importance, you know.
08:23Maybe I could have a small area where specifically I keep it for maybe breeding this creature or where it
08:30can roam quite freely also.
08:33From large-scale community mobilization like in Majidura to medium-sized private landowners in the tea gardens or individual landholders,
08:42Himalayan salamander conservation is gathering momentum in the Darjeeling region.
08:50I've seen changes like the taxi drivers and all, they, for tourists, when they came here, they explained that we
08:58will go to a place which is like, I don't want to say it, but again, mini pearl gum and
09:05it's really beautiful place.
09:06But now their narrative has changed.
09:09It is a beautiful place, but it is also a habitat for this rare amphibian called the Himalayan salamander, which
09:15you will not find anywhere in the world.
09:17So that is a plus point for them also to sell.
09:22If wetlands survive, salamanders survive, and with them, the water sources of an entire region.
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