Srinagar: The Jammu & Kashmir Wildlife Protection Department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) organised an inter-school awareness event in Delhi Public School, Srinagar, last Thursday. Students of 12 schools from the Valley participated in various extracurricular competitions held as part of the event.

“We organised three competitions: painting for primary level students, essay writing for secondary level students, and a quiz for secondary as well as higher secondary students. These competitions aimed at spreading awareness on wildlife issues relevant to the state, including human-animal conflicts,” said Ashfaq Ahmed Mattoo, Assistant Manager, WTI, who along with other WTI field staff Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Riyaz Ahmed, helped organise the competitions.

The event was inaugurated by Naseer Ahmed Kichloo, Regional Wildlife Warden, who spoke on the importance of forests to the students. Rashid Naqash, Wildlife Warden Central, made an elaborate presentation on the wildlife of the state.

The event additionally provided an opportunity to coordinate Animal Action Week – an international environmental education programme organised by WTI’s partner, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Animal Action Week 2009 with the theme – Under One Sky, highlights the importance of protecting biodiversity, habitat and ecosystems, as well as the bonds between animals and people. Free education packs were distributed to facilitate Animal Action Week celebrations scheduled for October 4-10.

“This is the seventh year for Animal Action Week in India. We have been trying to reach out to as many students as possible. We have distributed the education packs, available in English as well as Hindi, to participating schools. Moreover, these packs have been sent to schools whose addresses are listed in our database. These packs can also be freely downloaded from the WTI website (Download AAW 2009 materials) and used by schools any time,” Mattoo added.