MUMBAI: Nature lovers and activists have expressed deep shock at the passing away of the veteran naturalist, author and the BirdMan, Sunjoy Monga (63), on Wednesday, leaving behind his beloved City Forest, as he used to call the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, one of his favourite birding haunts.Monga was the first green activist to lament the rampant destruction of nearly 85% of wetlands in Uran in 2006-07, and urged all nature lovers to pull up their socks and protect the surviving wetlands — or the flamingos may disappear forever from our coast.Environmentalist from Conservation Action Trust, Debi Goenka, said: “I knew Monga for nearly 50 years. His love for wetlands, forests, grasslands, had taken him towards Nature’s path where he watched, researched and documented wildlife. It is a big loss for all of us.”Navi Mumbai based Sunil Agarwal of Save Navi Mumbai Mangroves and Wetlands group, said: “Monga was a part of our group and guided us on how to secure and preserve our wetlands and mangroves which are still threatened by plans to construct more concrete jungles. He had started the famous Mumbai Bird Races 20 years ago, and many citizens including children queued up to participate in them. Despite suffering from cancer, he continued to do various birding and nature trail tasks, especially to encourage kids.”Mumbai based wildlife biologist, and arachnologist Javed Ahmed, who first met Sunjoy as a 16-year-old, said, “Sunjoy always treated people as his peers, irrespective of their age difference, and experience. He was always humble, and never hesitant to ask, and learn about the various bugs and invertebrates we encountered on our many trails. He was my mentor.”Monga’s School Nature Education Programs in the form of ‘Chhoton ka Funda – Hara Banao Project’, and ‘Young Rangers’ reached out, and interacted with students of over a hundred schools in Mumbai, getting thousands of youngsters to take an interest in the great outdoors, while informing them of the crucial role of nature in our day to day lives.Activist B N Kumar of NatConnect Foundation stated: “I had spoken to Monga two years ago when he was fighting to save the Lokhandwala lake in Mumbai which was in a bad shape then. He was an inspiration for others to protect various wetlands and green forests.”