Save Denise’s Friends update:

What your support has helped achieve for the Denison’s Barb

When people support SHOAL, they’re helping local conservationists build the relationships and knowledge needed to protect entire freshwater ecosystems.

In India’s Western Ghats, that’s exactly what has been happening through our partnership with Zoo Outreach Organisation (Zooreach), where work to conserve the Denison’s Barb, listed by IUCN as Endangered and known affectionately as “Denise”, has continued to gather momentum.

Found only in a handful of rivers in Kerala and Karnataka, the Denison’s Barb has become one of India’s best-known freshwater fishes thanks to its popularity in the aquarium trade. Yet habitat degradation, pollution, destructive fishing practices and unsustainable collection from the wild have all contributed to its decline.

Over the past year, Zooreach has been working with local communities to understand where Denise still survives, and whether there is support for protecting the rivers she depends on.

The team visited 59 locations across 56 villages, speaking with 152 community members living alongside four river systems. Conversations explored people’s relationships with their rivers, the changes they had witnessed, and whether they would be willing to become involved in conservation.

The findings were encouraging. Around two-thirds of those surveyed recognised Denison’s Barb, with half having seen one themselves. During fieldwork, the team discovered a healthy shoal of around 40-50 Denison’s Barbs in one tributary – one of the largest groups encountered during the surveys. Many local residents were unaware the fish were there, underlining both how easily these populations can go unnoticed and why careful surveys are so important for guiding future conservation.

The surveys highlighted where future conservation efforts are most likely to succeed. Several communities expressed keenness to work together to protect their rivers, and two promising locations have now been identified as potential community-led conservation sites.

The team also encountered encouraging examples of local stewardship already underway, including communities helping to protect the nesting sites of the Critically Endangered Asian Giant Softshell Turtle. Building on that existing commitment gives hope that community-led conservation for Denise and her freshwater neighbours can flourish too.

The conversations revealed the value of local ecological knowledge. Residents described the subtleties in how Denise swims through different parts of the rivers at different times of year and recalled how river conditions have changed throughout their lifetimes. People spoke of deep pools in the rivers disappearing, river flows changing, fish diversity declining, and habitats being altered by dams, floods and sand deposition. Communities consistently identified flooding, overfishing, landslides, dams and destructive fishing methods as major threats to their rivers. Many also reported that wild collection for the aquarium trade continued until at least 2024.

These observations are helping Zooreach identify where conservation action is most urgently needed.

Sanjay Molur, Executive Director of Zooreach, said, “The community connection with the rivers varies throughout Denise’s range, with support for conservation fluctuating. However, increasing trends in positive attitude shift is perceptible, laying the foundations for the conservation effort. Our studies indicate that the time is right in pursuing a community led conservation action for Denise and her friends in at least two river stretches, and the need for financial support is now critical to build on the trust and positive attitudes of those communities.”

Alongside this research, Zooreach has been helping a new generation discover the remarkable wildlife living beneath the surface of their local rivers.

At the heart of this work is the Denise and Friends education programme. Rather than focusing solely on Denison’s Barb, the programme introduces children to an entire freshwater community. A five-foot illustrated river becomes the classroom, gradually populated with otters, kingfishers, dragonflies, freshwater fishes and many other species through games, storytelling, stickers and activities. As the river comes to life, students also explore the threats facing these ecosystems and the practical actions they can take to help protect them.

The materials have been produced in both English and Malayalam, making them accessible to schools across the region.

One of the biggest milestones this year was the first Train the Trainers workshop in Kasaragod. Twenty-five teachers and community leaders from 12 schools learned how to deliver the Denise and Friends programme themselves, before returning home with classroom kits containing manuals, a DIY tunnel book, activity packs and posters. The workshop also brought on-ground researchers and the community engaging with one another. By equipping local educators rather than relying on one-off events, the project can continue reaching many more young people long after the workshop has ended.

Payal Molur, a wildlife education specialist who works with Zooreach, said, “The best part of the training the trainers workshops is watching the teachers have their eureka moment. This was evident when they assembled Denise’s living river map, see it come to life and then watch all their hard work get covered by threats and then were able to relate this to what was happening on the ground.”

There is still plenty to do. Building community-led conservation areas takes time, trust and local leadership. But thanks to the generosity of SHOAL supporters, the foundations are now firmly in place. Communities have been engaged, promising conservation sites have been identified, teachers have been equipped with creative educational resources, and hundreds more children are now beginning to see their rivers not simply as waterways, but as homes for extraordinary wildlife worth protecting.

Every conversation, classroom session and community meeting brings Denise, and the many freshwater species that share her rivers, one step closer to a more secure future.

Train the Trainers workshop attendee feedback:

“The camp helped us to improve our knowledge about fishes especially Miss Kerala [Denise] and realise how important it is for each of us to protect our rivers and fish. The group members felt like family and the experience was truly special. We will do our best to create awareness among our students and engage them in related activities and share feedback as well.”

“It was a wonderful experience for me to attend this three-day camp. Before attending, I had never heard of this fish or realised its importance. The entire programme helped me truly understand nature and its significance. The activities and methodology were comprehensive, making it very easy to understand the message you wanted to impart. I am incredibly thankful to the entire Zoo Outreach team for organising the ‘Denise and Friends’ workshop.”