Experts call for preparing next generation of wildlife enthusiasts

Vaghashiya was addressing a gathering after receiving Wildlife Guardian Award at an event organised under the banner of Wildlife Guardians of Gujarat (WLGG), a forum functioning under the aegis of NGO Wildlife Conservation Trust (WLCT), Rajkot and supported by Asiatic Lion Protection Society (ALPS), at Malida village on the edge of Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary (GWLS) in Bhesan taluka of Junagadh district.

Called Girnarni Godma Girni Vato (discussion about Gir forest in the foothill of Mount Girnar), the event was organised to felicitate NGOs and individuals working for wildlife conservation and nature education and discuss issues concerning Gir forest, the world’s only natural habitat for Gir lions.

Vaghashiya complained about nature education camps having been truncated to one-day affair instead of three-day events, camp sites having fallen out of use and bird conservation not getting as much attention as lions and leopards.

Revtubha Raijada, who has been conducting nature education camps for more than three decades through NGO Sky Forest Youth Club (SFYC) agreed.

“Nature education camps have been reduced to picnics. These days, many resource persons talk about what are the usages of leaves and barks and root of trees instead of trying to show children the wider picture during nature education camps,” Raijada said.

The state government organises nature education camps in various protected forest areas as well as parks for free of cost for school children while NGOs also organise private camps.

Nature education camps in Gir had started in 1979 and the government had expanded the scope to other forest areas of the state later on.

Mahesh Singh, additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) and member secretary of the Gujarat Ecology Commission said that the state government organises 1,000 nature education camps every year and this number will double from next year but added that more needs to be done.

“Thanks to a history of nature education here, these activities are happening in Saurashtra but they need to be intensified in north and south Gujarat regions,” he said, adding, “Expanding nature education activities will have to be seen as a joint responsibility of government and society as government alone may not be able to cover all schools in the state,” he said.

Retired IFS officers DS Narve and Uday Vora, who were associated with nature education activities during their service also shared their views.

“Today’s conventional education has become so much examination-centric that majority of the students focus only on what is likely to be useful in writing examinations like JEE and NEET. Therefore, we need to engage biology teachers and try make wildlife and nature relevant to these exams,” Vinod Pandya, a retired high school teacher from Rajkot suggested.

Vasundhara Nature Club, Rajhans Nature Club Trust, Bhavnagar, Sky Forest Youth Club, Keshod (Junagadh), Canine Group, Vadodara, Nature Club Surat of Surat and Wild Saurashtra, Rajkot were felicitated by the WLGG.

Naturalists Vinod Pandya, Sheetal Surani, Vikram Gandhi, Bhavesh Trivedi, Ami Shrimali, Akash Bhatt, Kushal Vala, Dhaivat Hathi and Chiragbala Gosai were also felicitated WLGG president Bhushan Pandya and WCT president Kishor Kotecha and ALPS president Kamlesh Adhiya for their contribution to wildlife conservation and nature education.