Recently I was on a tour to Sanjay van, my first forest tour, me and my brother were so excited about to try DSLR camera, but the guard on the entry gate said that photography of wildlife is not allowed in this forest, he added we can click photo by phone, so I was wondering the reason for same. Me and my brother were hugely disappointed? apart from photography there was everything going on there, like cycling, people riding loud bikes and swimming.
I thought if the above reason is animal will be frightend, than they should be frightend by these careless people too, then why they did not allowed us to photograph
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Are any real rules in this forest? It can be linked to commercial photography, but sounds shady.
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some places require commercial photographers to obtain a permit for photography, but i’ve never heard of a general ban on photography. i would try going there again, and if they tell you not to take photos, ask what the reason for the ban is. that will probably provide more insight than any of us in the iNatForum can.
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is there a risk of poaching maybe?
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“You know, when I was in Paris, seeing Linter for the first time, I was standing at the top of some steps in the courtyard where Linter’s place was, and I looked across it and there was a little notice on the wall saying it was forbidden to take photographs of the courtyard without the man’s permission. […] They want to own the light!”
― Iain M. Banks, The State of the Art
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What a stupid rule
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A quick search shows that this has been something that’s been going on in Sanjay Van for a long time.
Here’s a post from 2018 where the person complains about this:
While Amit was engrossed in clicking pictures of the two antelopes, a zooming bike suddenly came to a halt just as it went past the two of us. The rider claimed to be an official working in Sanjay Van and told us that photography was prohibited in the forest. We apologized for violating the rule and tried to convince him that we did not know that photography was prohibited (and honestly we did not). However, the man was extremely stubborn and not only asked us to stop clicking but insisted that we leave the forest premises immediately. Amit was asked to ride pillion with both our cameras and was escorted by the man right up to the gates of the forest. I walked back to the gate, quite upset and frustrated with the whole episode.
Not that Travel World Planet is the most reliable resource, but according to them photography is allowed in Sanjay Van:
Photography and Videography: Allowed
It appears to be a result of people misinterpreting a larger rule for Delhi and being overzealous in its application. There are restrictions on commercial filming and photography, and to do that sort of filming government permission is needed, as it should be. Here’s the Film Shooting Manual for Delhi.
It’s not at all uncommon for local authorities to misinterpret what a law actually refers to and to apply it more widely than intended.
Setting the question of Sanjay Van aside, there are sometimes good reasons to restrict photography in certain areas. An area that becomes a center of attraction for photographers can wind up being heavily impacted, especially if it’s the only one of its sort in the region. In California wildflower blooming areas have sometimes been badly damaged by Instagram photographers flocking to take photos of and in them, in China blooming cherry trees have been damaged by people fighting for the best shots of themselves in falling blossoms, all over the world birds have been badly impacted by overeager photographers. It’s not just birds either, wildlife of all sorts (animal and plant) is being impacted by irresponsible photographers.
As a conservation ecologist and photographer myself this is the sort of thing that absolutely infuriates me.
In any event, Sanjay Van, being an urban forest in the second largest city on the planet, may have had officials take enforcement into their own hands in order to minimise the impact people were having in it.
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Woah, thanks a lot for your research sir, it helped me create a new perspective of what situation was. Still it was hard to argue with that person, I tried asking him reason and he kept pointing on board. I also added the fact if photography with phone is allowed them it should be allowed with camera too, but as expected he kept pointing on board. Will go to next site, Okhla for birds and aquatic animals, and if they do not allow photography, then I will argue with some better points, I hope they charge money for photography instead of stopping it.
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