Dr. Kumar Ghorpade began watching birds more than 35 years ago and now conducts a new journal of field Ornithology. His academic career in Agricultural Sciences helped initiate a strong research interest in insect diversity. After completing his masters and doctoral degrees in Entomology in India, he spent two years at the National Museum of Natural History on a Smithsonian Institution postdoctoral research programme in the U.S.A. He launched an entomological journal in 1981 and wrote the entire section on insects for the book 'Encyclopedia of Indian Natural History', produced as the Bombay Natural History Society's centenary publication in 1986 (He is a Life Member). He is currently working research projects in collaboration with national and international institutions and scientists. WILDERNESS INDIA was recently initiated by him to help foreign naturalists with field work in India, and he hopes to help accumulate important scientific data on animals and plants, some of which he could publish in his own journals.

Quoted below are responses from some of his entomologist colleagues he has had the pleasure of hosting. Dr O'Brien's comments highlight the urgency of data collection on the Indian subcontinent's biodiversity for the use of mankind. WILDERNESS INDIA could assist the serious naturalist in exploring the undisturbed habitats and their unknown inhabitants here.

"Your comments about the certainty of the destruction of native ecosystem in India is well founded. There is absolutely no doubt that the systems are disappearing extremely rapidly. This is occurring in all parts of the world at the present time and is especially a problem in developing countries. My own experience in India made it abundantly clear to me that the relatively small areas of natural habitat are disappearing at an unbelievable rate and it seems quite obvious that they will not survive for long. At the same time it is also obvious to me that a very large part of the Indian fauna is not known at the present time and my own work with the genus Bagous is a very strong indication of this."

- Charles W. O'Brien, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.

"Very many thanks for all the help you gave me whilst I was in India. I managed to collect some very useful material amongst which are some real teasers. Dr Kerrich nearly had a nervous break down when I showed him some of the representatives of the group that he is currently working on!"

- John S. Noyes, The Natural History Museum, London, U.K.

"I've been sorting through the specimens we did collect with you and there are a few real eye-openers. I want to sincerely thank you again for your help and hospitality during our visit to India. I know we would have been tremendously frustrated (at the least!) without your assistance."

- Norman F. Johnson, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A.

"I did want to get a quick letter off to you to thank you for your assistance in all phases of the trip and to let you know that I am not going to forget about you and the possibilities of cooperative efforts now that I am back home. Again, I enjoyed our time in the field in India and hope we can do it again. There are lots of very interesting scelionids in the samples."

- D. Christopher Darling, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada.

"First of all I want to thank you for the superb time and hospitality you provided Amnon and me while we were in Bangalore. The collecting was good, especially for ephydrids, and we very much enjoyed the company. We are appreciative of all that you did. I anticipate a continued association with you and wish you the best with your studies."

- Wayne N. Mathis, National Museum of Natural History, -Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

"Two years have passed since my trip to India, however I still have very vivid and fond memories of my visit. This past March I gave a slide show to the Ottawa Entomology Club about my visit to south India and it was very well received. A number of individuals were quite excited about the prospect of initiating joint research projects, and would be willing to do everything to promote cooperative work."

- Bruce D. Gill, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

"Thank you so much for your help in the exciting time I had collecting in India. I am very pleased that you will be involved in the project and know your expertise and enthusiasm will help make the final results significant.

- David L. Pearson, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

"First, again, very many thanks for your great help to us in Bangalore. Without you we would hardly have had such good results. At least we would have wasted a good deal of time on arrangements, etc. All three of us are rather tired on return but very satisfied because we had a splendid time in India. The insects are now being unpacked and labelled."

- Borge Petersen, Zoologisk Museum, Copenhageit, Denmark.

"First of all, I want to thank you for your kind and generous hospitality during my recent visit. It was one of the most pleasant and productive two weeks I've had in a long time. Most of all, it was nice to spend a lot of time talking with my old friend."

- Lloyd Knutson, Agricultural Research Service, U.S.D.A., Beltsville, Maryland, U.S.A.