Do not say that I'll depart tomorrow
because even today I still arrive.
Look at me: I arrive in every second
to be a bud on a spring branch,
to be a tiny bird whose wings are still fragile,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
—Thich Nhat Hanh , Engaged Buddhist
The alarming threat of ecocide[i] caused by the loss of bird habitat around the world has motivated us to promote mindful birdwatching, inspiring us to write Photo Ahimsa. We aim to share this book with family, friends, and others in our community who are concerned about the alarming destruction of our environment.
This book is collaboratively written by our Green family members—Jim, Dedrie, Peter, Hilda, Emily, Ella, James, and Hugo—under the pseudonym ‘Green Imagery’. Jim provided the text; the other members were active birdwatchers, photographers, and editors.
Members of the family have always loved birds; most were never serious birdwatchers, but have always tagged along for a walk in the bush, spotting and identifying birds and helping to get good photographs.
Jim was the odd person out. He hunted in his childhood and teenage years, shooting birds in Africa and collecting trophies. His bedroom wall was festooned with colourful, patterned wings of many birds that met their premature end from a lead air rifle pellet. It was a hobby many boys of his age indulged in. There was intense competition among the boys as to who had the most exotic hits. Most boys in Africa in the 1950s and 1960s read books about hunting and played games about shooting animals such as elephants, lions, and gorillas.
Like St. Paul on the Damascus Road, Jim then had an epiphany along the way, converting to collecting trophies by camera. He started capturing images of wildlife and leaving creatures that fly, creep, crawl, walk and run to continue sharing their lives with others. He became an amateur wildlife photographer after the family migrated to Australia in 1987.
What was Jim’s epiphany?
Jim was not averse to hunting birds until he shot a Guinea fowl (Figure 2 below) for dinner in the Eastern Transvaal, just before migrating to Australia. Peter and Hilda tearfully asked, when seeing the lifeless, bloodied bird in his hand, ‘How could you eat such a lovely bird, so inquisitive and smart?’. He vowed never to hunt with a rifle again— ‘It would only be with a camera from now on’, he said.
Now we have albums full of photos that tell stories of wildlife and avian encounters in Africa, Australia and Europe. Nowadays, our cameras accompany us on walks in the countryside and visits to national parks, botanical gardens, and other green spaces. Then, we knowingly and unknowingly practise a form of ‘mindfulness’ birdwatching, called Photo Ahimsa. The only ‘projectiles’ we use are the photons that mark the ‘viscera’ of our cameras.
So, we coined the term “Photo Ahimsa” to describe our mindful birdwatching practice, which includes taking photographs. Kabat-Zinn[ii], a professor of psychology, defines ‘mindfulness’ as:
…the richness of present-moment experience…the richness of life itself. Too often, we let our thinking and our beliefs about what we ‘know’ prevent us from seeing things as they really are.
The word Ahimsa[iii] in Photo Ahimsa, means‘non-violence’. Ram Ponnu[iv], a Hindu teacher, explains the meaning of the word:
Ahimsa is derived from the Sanskrit verb root san, which means to kill. The form ‘hims‘ means “desirous to kill”; the prefix ‘a‘ is a negation. So ‘a-himsa‘ means literally ‘lacking any desire to kill. ‘
The practice of Ahimsa is non-violence towards all living beings and the environment. It doesn’t mean the absence of killing. Nature operates within a lifecycle where predators and prey coexist, with predators hunting to survive, not for the sake of killing. As an example, butcherbirds eat lizards, which in turn eat insects that feed on plants that consume other nutrients. The key thing is that predators and prey kill to live, not for fun or sport.
It’s nearly impossible to avoid stepping on ants or flailing at mosquitoes while birdwatching. But let’s get this straight: if you’re watching a bird to shoot it, you’re practising Himsa. Jim knows. He still suffers from a mild form of PTSD when he remembers his bird hunting days.
Taking a photograph of that bird becomes Photo Ahimsa. This mindful practice requires your full attention and best practice stalking skills, because one false move and that bird will fly!
We have become occasional yet enthusiastic Photo Ahimsa practitioners. Australia is still a birdwatcher’s paradise. Any photographer, armed with any camera or even a mobile phone, can still capture impressive photos of birds, as many species are accustomed to residing in towns and cities. Some avian ‘homes’ are in parks and gardens, sporting ovals, nature reserves and along coasts and rivers; other ‘homes’ are in buildings, under eaves, on electricity pylons and wherever nests can be built.
Many of the birds we photograph are living works of art displaying exquisite colours, intricate body and wing patterns, and exceptional and often quirky behaviours. The photographic images tell the story.
But circumstances are changing rapidly around the globe. Our modern society commits Himsa on a grand scale. Our impact on the earth’s ecosystems and thus on ourselves has reached such a level that we risk committing not only species suicide but also pushing thousands of other species towards extinction.
Climate change, cutting down forests around the world to make way for agriculture, draining wetlands, paving over grasslands as cities and towns expand, and damming and damaging rivers and coastlines result in accelerating avian habitat loss. Plastic pollution is spreading globally, while massive oil and chemical spills devastate habitats on land and sea. As a result, we are now confronting an ecological crisis.
We understand that the crisis is escalating in Australia and worldwide, impacting us directly and profoundly! Statistics tell us that we have reason to be frightened and alarmed.
BirdLife International [v] gives chilling information about an impending ecocide:
Nearly half of the planet’s bird species are in decline, according to a definitive report that paints the grimmest picture yet of the destruction of avian life…The expansion and intensification of agriculture are putting pressure on 73% of species. Logging, invasive species, exploitation of natural resources and climate breakdown are the other main threats. Globally, 49% of bird species are declining, one in eight are threatened with extinction, and at least 187 species are confirmed or suspected to have gone extinct since 1500.
Stuart Butchart et al. (2024). Birdlife International. https://www.birdlife.org/state-of-the-worlds-birds.
A recent waterbird population survey in Australia shows that:
Waterbird populations have declined as much as 90% over the last forty years in eastern Australia. Despite this, in the last ten years, an average of 320,000 ducks were shot and killed each hunting season in Victoria alone.
The Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey; University of New South Wales
We were shocked to witness many hundreds of dead Shearwater Birds (mutton birds) in Port Fairy, near Griffiths Island, their breeding ground. The local council and environmentalists identified many different potential causes, such as migration stress, starvation, severe weather, climate change impacts on food resources, ocean temperatures and predators, such as foxes. Scientists suggest that the presence of microplastics[vi] in food sources may be a factor.
We shuddered when told what effect microplastics can have on the digestive systems of birds:
A 2023 study formally identified plasticosis as a fibrotic disease caused by plastic ingestion, distinguishing it from general physical damage by detailing the chronic tissue remodelling and inflammation it induces in seabird digestive systems.
Wikipedia contributors. (2025, May 25). Microplastics. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics
Is there hope? Are we doing enough? Pope Francis did not think we are doing enough. His Laudato (Praise Be to You)[vii] was an appeal to the world:
Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost forever. The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us.
Wikipedia contributors. (2025, April 28). Laudato si’. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudato_si.
We have no such right…
In his Laudato, he strongly criticises ‘consumerism and irresponsible economic development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take swift and unified global action.’
Our photographed avian subjects are totems of many Indigenous peoples, such as the Aboriginal People in Australia, the San People in South Africa, and the North American Potawatomi People. An ecocide will finally erase these icons from the cultures of Indigenous Peoples.
The following risk-reducing measures[viii] are being advocated by concerned governments around the world:
Countries should create laws to prevent ecocidal acts and hold people and companies accountable for environmental harm. They need to encourage responsible consumption, reduce waste, and promote sustainable management of chemicals. Businesses and governments must adopt eco-friendly practices in their operations. Efficient use of natural resources like water, soil, and forests is vital. Supporting community-led efforts for environmental justice and protecting indigenous rights is essential. It’s important to ensure accountability for environmental damage and raise awareness about ecocide to build support for protecting the environment.
Wikipedia contributors. (2025, June 12). Ecocide. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecocide
Concerted action is needed to prevent a sterile dystopia[ix] or, indeed, our own extinction.
The key objective in writing this book is to add another small voice that promotes mindful birdwatching while raising awareness about this threatening ecocide. Could we help to increase pressure on our EPA to fight for strengthened legislation to protect avian habitats and implement risk reduction measures?
We were made aware of the threat to avian life globally when we worked as risk management consultants with Australian and international operators of oil refineries, gas plants, and chemical facilities from 1992 to 2020. We conducted risk assessments and published confidential reports regarding the impacts accidental oil and chemical releases had on bird habitats, such as at Ramsar sites in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Most findings indicated that preventative measures were ineffective, and the EPA regulations were not strict enough.
We intend to send the book to local councils, to our local Members of Parliament and environmental agencies. We hope that it will strike a chord somewhere.
We have practised Photo Ahimsa in Australia and the following places in Africa:
The Masai Mara, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro in East Africa; the President Ridge Bird Sanctuary in Ferndale, Johannesburg, South Africa; the Dinokeng Game Reserve in Mpumalanga, South Africa; the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Rwanda, the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda and the Mikumi and Arusha National Parks in Tanzania.
We have many stories to tell about the connections we have made during our practice. In her sad poem, The Lyrebird, Judith Wright[x] asks the ‘dying poet’ to tell us its story. In Photo Ahimsa, our ‘dying poets’ can tell their stories:
Over the west side of the mountain,
that’s lyrebird country.
I could go down there, they say, in the early morning,
and I’d see them, I’d hear them.
Ten years, and I have never gone.
I’ll never go.
I’ll never see the lyrebirds -
the few, the shy, the fabulous,
the dying poets.
[i] Wikipedia contributors. (2025, April 11). Ecocide. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecocide.
[ii] Keng, S., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2011). Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(6), 1041–1056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006.
[iii] Wikipedia contributors. (2024, November 28). In Wikipedia. Ahimsa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahimsa.
[iv] Ram Ponnu. Kamarajar. Ahimsa: Its theory and practice in Gandhism. Govts. Arts College, Surandai, Tirunelveli Dist., Tamil Nadu. Email: eraponnu@gmail.com.
[v] Stuart Butchart et al. (2024). Birdlife International. https://www.birdlife.org/state-of-the-worlds-birds.
[vi] Wikipedia contributors. (2025, May 25). Microplastics. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics
[vii] Wikipedia contributors. (2025, April 28). Laudato si’. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudato_si.
[viii] Wikipedia contributors. (2025, June 12). Ecocide. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecocide
[ix] Wikipedia contributors. (2025, June 8). Dystopia. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia
[x] Judith Wright. (1960). The Lyrebird. Australian Bird Poems. Publ. Australian Letters. Adelaide.