From Mainpur to Kunhimangalam to Nazgira-Nawegaon, WTI Celebrates Wildlife Week with Schoolchildren
Mainpur, Chhattisgarh: At the Central India Wild Buffalo Conservation Project in Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, WTI, in partnership with the Chhattisgarh Forest Department and with support from Oracle, organised a Wildlife Week programme on October 7. Drawing, painting and essay competitions were held across five schools in the town of Mainpur and over 900 schoolchildren, Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) members and forest staff participated in an awareness rally on the occasion.
The programme was inaugurated at the forest office campus by Mr Vivekanand Reddy, the Deputy Director of Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, who later presented certificates and gifts to the competition winners. Brochures and stickers on the wild buffalo were also distributed to school teachers and JFMC members during the programme.
Kannur, Kerala: At the WTI-Apollo Tyres Kannur Kandal (Mangrove Conservation) Project, photo exhibitions were organised at two schools – the Shenoy Memorial Government Higher Secondary School and the Government Higher Secondary School – near the project site in Kunhimangalam on October 6 and 7.
Over 100 photographs representing the floral and faunal diversity of mangroves, the peculiarities and importance of the mangrove ecosystem, and the threats confronting mangroves were displayed, with notes and captions in the native language. The photographs had been collected from researchers and naturalists who work on mangroves in Kerala. Documentary films on mangroves were screened on the sidelines and books on mangroves and wildlife in general were also displayed.
A total of around 1000 students visited the exhibitions at both schools. “They were enthusiastic and full of curiosity”, said WTI Field Officer Ramith M, who interacted with the students and answered their several questions.
Gondia, Maharashtra: At the IFAW-WTI Central India Tiger Habitat Securement Project, a month-long wildlife awareness programme in the Nagzira-Nawegaon Connectivity Corridor and Buffer Zone, including a Kho Kho tournament, quiz events, rangoli competitions and screenings of a tiger documentary in Hindi, reached its culmination during Wildlife Week. These activities were held across 30 villages, cumulatively reaching a total of 2300 students, 119 teachers and 1394 villagers.
The Kho Kho tournament organised at the end of August saw the participation of nearly 300 students, teachers and villagers from eight schools in the corridor. The rangoli competitions were held across nine villages and attracted 109 participants, while 1129 villagers participated in the documentary screenings and quiz competitions held during the Durga Puja and Ganesh Utsav festivals. The start and end of the rangoli events were marked by heavy rains on September 10 and October 7, but the participants remained undeterred, with entire families coming together to create some beautiful wildlife-themed designs.
