Dr. Sakib Burza says his fondest memories are climbing the majestic pine trees in the Kashmir Valley where he spent most of his childhood with his family. On a normal day, he would go trekking up the hills into the mountains above the tree line, watching over the forest canopy below. “I’ve always been attached to nature and I wanted to study medicine,” Burza says. “So it was a question of trying to see both happening, a position where I can bring nature and human health together into one.” Although his father wanted him to excel in engineering, Burza decided to go into the medical field, inspired by his father’s own path in medicine. Growing up in Indian Kashmir, he was conscious of the unmet medical needs of people in rural areas, which also helped put him on the professional pursuit to practice medicine in materially impoverished communities. Burza went on to earn a doctorate in medicine and a master’s degree in public health in developing countries, before practicing as a physician who now directs medical and emergency response at Health In Harmony (HIH), an organization working at the intersection of human and planetary health. HIH’s stated aim is to reverse tropical deforestation and improve the health of forests, and ultimately people, by listening to and supporting the solutions of Indigenous peoples and local communities. Working for rainforest Indigenous communities in Southeast Asia and Africa while being based in the U.K., Burza says he still finds time every year to…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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