Sunday, August 15, 2010

Report on the one-day Awareness programme on Biodiversity for the College level nature clubs of Malappuram district associated with WWF-India on 6th August 2010


Hornbill Nature Club, NSS College, Manjeri member of the WWF-India’s nature club network hosted a one-day Awareness programme on Biodiversity for the College level nature clubs of Malappuram district associated with WWF-India on 6th August 2010.



The programme started with a welcome address by Dr. Peroth Balakrishnan, coordinator of Hornbill Nature Club. The programme was presided by Mr. A.K. Sivakumar, Education Officer, WWF-India Kerala State Office, Thiruvananthapuram. Dr. T.N. Vijayakumar, Principal, NSS College, Manjeri inaugurated the workshop. In his inaugural address Dr. Vijayakumar stressed the role of students in biodiversity conservation. Inauguration followed facilitations by Dr. Suresh Chandra Kurup (HoD, Zoology Dept) and Dr. P. Balakrishnan (HoD, Botany Dept).



There were two technical sessions and one activity session during the workshop. Mr. A.K. Sivakumar, Education Officer, WWF-India Kerala State Office delivered a talk on ‘Biodiversity and Man’ in the first technical session. Mr Jain. J Therattil, Dept. of Zoology, St. Aloysius College, Thrissur delivered a talk on ‘Wetland Biodiversity’ in the second technical session. The technical sessions followed by discussions on some key questions like: How the conservation ngo’s responded to the recent destructions of the mangroves in Kerala? Do we go with destructive development or sustainable development? Most conservation actions require money, but how students can handle this? etc. 

In the activity session students were grouped in to three: forest, sea and wetland. Each group performed various items related to their habitat (songs, animal actions, etc). Certificates to the participants were distributed by Mr. A.K. Sivakumar, Education Officer, WWF-India Kerala State Office, Thiruvananthapuram. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Mr. P. Murukan, District coordinator of WWF-India nature clubs.

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