Sixty School Children Participate in Wall Painting Competition at Dudhwa
Dudhwa National Park, 19 October 2015: Under continued efforts to sensitize local school children towards wildlife conservation, the Wildlife Trust of India’s (WTI) Uttar Pradesh Big Cat Conflict Mitigation Project organised a wall painting competition at the Gurukul Academy, Palia, near Dudhwa National Park, on the 19th of October 2015.
Nearly sixty school children along with their art teachers, from six different schools from Palia Kalan and Bhira, in Lakhimpur Kheri district participated in the programme. The half a day long programme began with an interactive session, where the participating school chidlren were told about the various aspects of wildlife conservation with a special focus on Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Dudhwa being the only stronghold of the tiger, children were also shown an IFAW-WTI awareness film,”Born to be Wild” that encompasses various aspects of the global tiger conservation scenario.
Subsequently, the children were provided the opportunity to fill sections of Gurkul Academy’s walls with their art skills, resulting in wildlife themed, brilliantly colourful wall sections that would for at least some time to come resound of these children’s love for wildlife. All children were rewarded for their immense enthusiasm with comprehensive children’s education packs and relevant wildlife books.
Today, Uttar Pradesh in Northern India, is at the crossroads of wildlife conservation with barely a few thousand square kilometers of forested area thriving amidst the country’s highest and one of the densest human populations, and a growing agrarian economy. Thus, amidst a variety of conservation efforts in the state, none is perhaps more important than sensitizing the future generations towards the importance of safeguarding nature and wildlife. The project is run by the WTI in the state with the support from Aircel Pvt. Ltd. It incorporates children’s education and awareness around the Dudhwa-Pilibhit Tiger Reserves, a key priority of the project. Till date in the last two years over 4500 school children have been sensitised in the region.
