World Environment Day 2007- Reports - ZOO'S PRINT special thanks go to Mr. Sushil Halifax Dean,...

ZOOS' PRINT, Volume XXII, Number 12, December 2007 (RNI 9:3)-Education Supplementary

World Environment Day 2007- Reports WED report from Chandigarh conducted by Conservation Himalayas On 5th June 2007, Conservation Himalayas (NGO), a Shimla-based NGO, organised the World Environment Day Programme in the Community Hall at Munakot village of the Munakot block in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand. It was a collaborative programme with the Munakot Block, Pithoragarh to increase awareness of various environmental issues among the village level women’ groups, youth groups and school children and to educate the participants about the threats to the Himalayan bears and other bear species, particularly sloth bears. The programme was also chaired by the Munakot Block Development Officer, Munakote Agriculture Development Officer and other local officials from the Van Panchayats and Environment NGOs. The programme was divided into two sessions of two hours each: in the first session, the Conservation Himalayas presented its programme on the theme PEOPLE’s ROLE TO PROTECT THREATENED SLOTH BEARS AND HIMALAYAN BLACK BEARS. Dr. Santosh Kumar Sahoo, Chairman, Conservation Himalayas, conducted the entire session of the programme with an introductory interactive talk on “Understanding biodiversity through the food chain and food web system in the ecology” Some of the participant women and youths participated in this interactive talk and shared their understanding of the issue of wildlife depredation. Through pictorial examples and schematic diagrams, Dr. Sahoo explained to the audience the concept of food chain, food web and chain reaction and made the talk lively as some of the young participants volunteered to show to the audience how in the ecosystem, the food chain system operates and how the loss of one food energy source in the food chain (for example, frogs) breaks the food chain leading to the creation of an imbalance in the ecosystem (see Photograph 1) Photograph 1 Small kids made this demonstration under the direction of Dr. Sahoo. This was followed by a question answer session during which the audience asked questions on food chain and also on how a balanced food chain helps the villagers. Dr. Sahoo gladly appreciated such questions even from the women and clarified the answers through lucid examples and illustrations from the daily life wildlife ecology in the court yard of each villager. In the second part of the programme, Dr. Sahoo gave a brief talk about the Four Bears (Himalayan Black Bears, Sun Bears, Sloth Bears and Brown Bears). The focus of this session was to apprise the audience with the information about the Plights of the Sloth Bears on the High Way Road by the Bear Dance Shows. A game activity on “Rescuing the Sloth Bears and Protecting Bear Habitats” was played by the young students. (see photographs 2 and 3 )


Photograph 2 Photograph 3

At the end of the programme all the students who participared in the wild protection game activities received ZOO bear kits and ZOO bear posters. All the participants took group pledge along with Dr. Sahoo to remain alert about any sorts of wildlife crime against bears and other wild animals in their local forests and elsewhere in the country. The group also pledged not to watch any bear dance show anywhere and to discourage their friend, relatives and neighbours not to go to watch any bear dance show (see Photographs 4 and 5) Photograph 4 Photograph 5 Photo Captions: Photograph 1: During the World Environment Day – 2007 programme, Dr. Santosh Kumar Sahoo explains the remote village women, youths and children at Munakot, Pithoragrah about the importance of Food Chain in the ecosystem. Photograph 2: Students at Munakot, Pithoragarh playing the game activity on Protecting Bears and Rescuing Bears from Poacher’s Snare during the World Environment Day-2007 Programme at Munakot. Photograph 3: Students participating in one game activity on Bear Habitat Protection during the World Environment Day-2007 Programme at Munakot, Pithoragarh. Photograph 4: Students received ZOO posters on Sloth bears after they participated in the game activity during the World Environment Day-2007 at Munakot, Pithoragarh. Photograph 5:Participants in the World Environment Day-2007 programme at Munakot, Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand taking group pledge along with Dr. Santosh Sahoo not to watch any bear dance show on the road and teach others not to go to any bear show any where in the country.


Acknowledgement Conservation Himalayas (CH) was successfully able to organize the World Environment Day-2007 programme because of the very interesting and meaningful wildlife educational materials it received from the ZOO Outreach Organisation on its theme entitled “PROTECTING BEARS AND NO MORE BEAR DANCE” Coimbatore. I am thankful to the ZOO Outreach Organisation for supplying very informative and exciting educational packets in Hindi language, “Bear on the Road…. Not in the forest” “Bear T-shirts” and Sloth Bear Posters especially for the World Environment Day-2007. Special thanks go to all the sponsors (USFWS, Philadelphia Zoo, Wildlife S.O.S., EWCL and ZOO outreach Organisation) who supported in the publication of the ZOO educational materials on bears. These ZOO’s educational materials were highly appreciated by the students, communities, forest officials and every body who participated in the World Environment Day-2007 Programme at Munakot, Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand. I gratefully acknowledge the kind cooperation I received from Mr. Ram Gopal, DFO, Pithoragarh forest division; Mr. C.C. Joshi, Agriculture Development Officer, ADO, of the Munakot Block in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, Block Development Officer, Munakot Block, Pithoragarh and BDC Chairman, Munakot, Pithoragarh. I am especially thankful to Aruna Kumari Negi, Wild Education Officer, Conservation Himalayas, for coordinating the programme of the WED-2007 at Munakot, Pithoragarh. My special thanks go to Mr. Sushil Halifax Dean, Executive Member, Conservation Himalayas, for his moral support and interest in our outreach conservation educational campaign to celebrate the World Environment Day 2007. Submitted by: Dr. Santosh Kumar Sahoo, Chairman, Conservation Himalayas (NGO), 977, 41-A, Chandigarh, 160 036. Email: [email protected] WED celebrated in Darjeeling, West Bengal The theme of this year World Environment Day was “Melting ice-A hot Topic?” One of our programmes was in The Governor House, Darjeeling on 4th June 2007. There was a group discussion among the concerned authorities, civil societies, academicia and other stakeholders. Before this an essay writing competition was held all over India on “Water conservation” where two candidates from this region secured 2nd and 3rd positions. The winners got awards along with the T- shirt and posters donated from Zoo Outreach Organisation. On evening of 5th June, the State Environment Minister released a souvenir of WWF-India in Kolkata at Ashutosh Birth Centenary Hall and a film show was organized on this years theme topic. Two representatives from Loreto House and Don Bosco, Liluah delivered their presentation on climate change.

Pix: Release of WWF-India, souvenir by the minister. (Above left); Ankita Prasad a student speaking on the issue of climate change (Above right); The participant after receiving the bear poster and T-shirt given by Zoo Outreach Organisation (Below)


Submitted by: Ms. Sangita Mitra, Sr. Project Officer,WWF-India, WBSO,Tata Centre, 1st floor 43 J L Nehru Road, Kolkata 700071 Email: [email protected] WED celebrations at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Regional Museum of Natural History, Bhopal has organized Wildlife Coservation Programmes with the help of your materials on the subject Primates, Bats & rats, Bearsand zoos in an effective manner.. The duration for the said programme were 4 hours and it was organized at Regional Museum Natural Histry, Bhopal campus. As the part of the Summer Camp 2007, this programme was arranged for the selected participants at the conference hall of RMNH. This programme was organized for the target groups 8th -10th standard drawn from various schools.namely Scholar’s Home School, Sagar Public School, Sarswati Vidya Mandir, Rashi Convent School, Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Raja Bhoj H.S. School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Vindyanchal Academy, Mount Carmel School, School for Excellence, Carmel Convent S.S. School,St. Joseph Co-Ed School,

St. Anne’s School Sehore, Bhopal Academy Co-ed School, Rajpushp school, Railway Bharati School, Sharda Vidya Mandir, Sheel public School, Pragya Vidyalaya, Mother Terasa S.S. School, Nav yubak Sabha, Vivekanand Public School,and Army School on 19th June, 2007. In this programme we explained nine species of bears identified but emphasized on the four species found in India such as Sloth bear, Sun bear, Himalayan black bear and Himalayan brown bear and requested the students to avoid being witness of the bear dance and illegal poaching. The participants readily agreed desist to such activities.


The South Asian Primates Colouring book was introduced and explained that how to differentiate them and also what they eat. Behavior of monkeys was explained as that monkeys eat berries, fruits and nuts. They were told that the monkeys are social animals and they lived in groups. participants shared many experiences with monkeys We explained that the great majority of non-Volant (non-flying) small mammals are not pests at all, but these innocent forest animals are doing what other small mammals do for ecosystem like dispersing seeds for healthy growth of vegetation, consuming excess grasses, providing a food source for a great variety of mammals, birds, reptiles etc Shri Manoj Kumar Sharma, Taxidermist of the museum acted as resource person and Ms Samita Singh from Chitransh College, was the dignatory invited for the programme. Materials as Rakhi, Posters, Books, Stickers, Masks etc provided by your esteem Organization were distributed to the students and found very helpful to enhance the environmental information to conserve the nature. The Wild life Protection Act 1972 was very informative to know about crimes and punishment. All sponsors were acknowledged ( EAZA, BIAZA, EAZWV, CHESTER,WILDLIFE GARDEN, NCZS, AZA, ZOO OUTREACH ORGANIZATION and SAZARC.) and the participants collected the e.mail id of Z.O.O. Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu for their further contact. Submitted by Dr. S. Sethuramalingam, Scientist-in-Charge, RMNH, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Email: [email protected] Report on World Environment Day celebration by SEE, Arunachal Pradesh The Society for Ecology and Environment (SEE) has organized the world environment day in the school premises of Kingcup Public School, Itanagar on 5

June 2007. The NGO known for its

commitment towards biodiversity conservation and development in Arunachal Pradesh targeted mainly the school student for such an awareness programme. Experts from different educational and research institutes such as North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST), GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED) and Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar were invited to talk on various issues relating to conservation of biodiversity. Accordingly, the tentative programme was followed: Tentative Programme 10: 00 am: Welcome Speech by the President, SEE;10:10 am: Welcome Song by the school student 10:20 am: Plantation of seedlings; 10:40 am: Inauguration of Poster Display session 10:45 am: Presentation by Resource Person - Dr. Padma Raj Gajurel 11:15 am: Presentation by Resource Person - Dr. Awadhesh Kumar 11:45 am: Screening of movie [along with Light Refreshment] 12:30 pm: Extempore Speech Competition; 1:30 pm: Speech by the School Principal 1:45 pm: Speech by the President; 2:00 pm Prize Distribution Ceremony 2:15 pm Vote of thanks


Groups of Extempore Speech Competition Group I: [Class VI to VII] Group II [Class IX to XI] In accordance with this year’s global theme “Melting Ice-A hot topic?” different resource persons conveyed different messages to the participating students.

At the beginning, the President, SEE Mr. Prabal Sen, addressed the gathering and apprised them of the activities of the organization and the importance of the day. He also stressed upon the need why the younger generation of today need to be sensitized on matters pertaining to climate change and its consequent effect on human being. On his speech, Dr. Padma Raj Gajurel, Lecturer, Department of Forestry, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, who has ample knowledge on biodiversity of Arunachal Pradesh in particular, has elaborated the needs of the school student for conserving the nature and the resources, He particularly mentioned about the role of student in keeping the surrounding environment neat and clean. Dr. Awadhesh Kumar, Lecturer, Department of Forestry, NERIST also stressed the present rate of global warming and its consequence to the human being. This was a very interesting topic for the school student and there was a good interaction amongst the students. He elaborated how global worming can lead to melting of polar icecaps, its subsequent rise in sea level and affect on survival of living being on this mother earth. He also stressed on conservation of different animals in special reference to Arunachal Pradesh. Scientist from GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED), Itanagar Mr. GB Gopi has also emphasized on the interaction of plants and animals and its future importance for balanced ecosystem. He also pointed out about the extinction of different animals throughout the world and particularly mentioned about Indian subcontinent. His special concern was to conserve the biodiversity and the role of school student. Activities: Poster Display Session: During the beginning of the day long programme, a poster display session was inaugurated by Dr. Sumpam Tangjang, Lecturer, Department of Botany, Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar. Posters on diverse fields were displayed. The major attractions were the posters supplied by Zoo Outreach Organisation (ZOO). The session was interactive and the students learnt a lot about the importance of bear, monkey, other large carnivores, different plants and animals. Extempore speech competition: This was the most significant event amongst the students. Two groups from class VI to class XI were made. Altogether 42 students participated on the event and talked on different topics. All the participants were given a packet of Hoolock Gibbon materials packet/Gharial materials packet. The materials were supplied by the Zoo Outreach Organisation (ZOO).


Students’ game: Students were than allowed to perform instant game play by wearing the masks of Hoolock Gibbon. A small rally was also organized inside the school campus on ‘Save Gibbon, Save Earth’ slogan. The materials supplied by the Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO) was very much useful for the programme and helped a lot in creating a strong concern on conserving the animal species with special reference to Arunachal Pradesh.

Plantation Programme: A plantation programme was also organized to mark the celebration a grand success. School students planted saplings of ‘Neem’ tree on their school premises and they have also taken the responsibility of taking care of the planted sapling. Distribution of prizes: At last, prize distribution ceremony was held among the extempore speech participants. In junior group, the first prize winner was Nani Huto (Class-VI) while Tania Antishta (Class-X) begged the same in senior group. Along with other prizes, T-shirts on Indian Bear and Booklets provided by the Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO) was excitation among the winners.

Follow-up: To disseminate the message of the programme among the masses, the programme details were published in the leading dailies (Arunachal Times, The Echo of Arunachal and The Dawnlit Post of Arunachal Pradesh) (News clip is attached along with the report). given to them. This was an added.

Acknowledgement: The Society for Ecology and Environment (SEE) is very much thankful to the Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO), an NGO from Coimbatore for supply of free educational material


(Posters, Booklets, Painting materials and T-shirts). This has not only helped us to conduct the programme successfully, but also created mass awareness amongst the students. Submitted by: Dr. L.B. Singha, Advisor, SEE, NERIST, Nirujuli-791 109, Arunachal Pradesh. Email: [email protected] Other programmes Conservation Education programme in Kolhapur, Maharashtra We have erected Amarnath Cave & Ice Shivling at 11th Lane, Rajarampuri under our programme of”Global Warming” awareness. A programme on wild life conservation & save environment was arranged on 27& 28 August 07 at this cave of Amarnath .Around 250 Students from Sai English School, Birds School, T.P High School, Tararani Vidyapith participated in the programme.

Children with bat placard at the cave Tying Rakhi to Member of Parliament MLA Shri.Malojiraje & MP Shri, Sadashive Mandlik were chief guests for the rogramme. Distributed educational packets to all students, there was a refreshment programme for all participants, they enjoyed all programme. Submitted by: Kishor Maruti Malekar, Yuvak Mitra Mandal, Rajarampuri, Kolhapur, Maharashtra. Email: [email protected] Happy Birthday for White Tiger Cubs at Nandankanan Zoo It was a different day for the Nandankanan Zoological Park. The atmosphere was charged with a festive mood. It was good news for inmates of Nandankanan Zoo. They too now celebrate their birthday with the visitors. The zoo authority has planned to celebrate birthday of important animals and birds inside their enclosures. The animal keepers of the zoo along with the school children had left no stone unturned to decorate the enclosures of the three white tigers with flowers and a "Happy Birthday" banner. The main entrance of the zoo was posted with a large “Happy Birthday Wish” hoarding indicating the birthday of the tigers and a brief history of their clan. The Chief Wildlife Warden, Orissa gave the final touch to the celebration by cutting the cake cheered amidst the chorus “Happy Birthday to Rishi, Sitesh & Prachi by more than 100 School Children and hundreds of visitors. Then the tigers had their special treat of the whole goat while the children were relishing the special birthday cake. This was followed by the felicitation of the animal keepers who care the animals of the zoo more than like their children and a tiger talk by eminent naturalist and scientist Dr. P Roy the scientist in charge of RMNH,


Bhubaneswar, attended by more than 200 school children, visitors and zoo guides. The event was covered by all most all national and local news papers and aired by 30 television channels. Organised and reported by Sri Ajit Pattnaik, Director, Nandankanan Zoo, Bhubaneswar, Orissa. E-mail: [email protected] Teens for Conservation Teens for Tigers through T4T - Mysore Zoo A one-day education programme was organized on 9th September 2007 at Mysore zoo auditorium, for the zoo youth club members. These members are from various schools and colleges from Mysore. This enthusiastic group is very much interested in wildlife, conservation action & is working wonders. The objectives of the programme were: a) To impart scientific knowledge about tigers. b) To provide understanding of tiger conservation. c) To provide an opportunity to make use of “tiger tool kit’ and selected HELP activities during forth coming wildlife week at zoo. d) To introduce Teens for planet Earth Materials used were tiger tool kit packets supplied bye Zoo Outreach Organisation, Coimbatore and selected activity sheets from T4T manual & TPE power point programme. The day stared with ‘cross the line’ game and led to small interaction on tiger. When students were asked how they feel when they hear word “TIGER”, they filled word wall by words like scary, fierce, dangerous, powerful etc. Story: From the T4T Manual "Tiger Who did not know who He was”, A Indian Tiger tale was narrated and attitude assessment activity was conducted. Tiger booklet and quiz: members were divided into four groups and were given ten minutes time to read the content of the booklet. Covering the details in the booklet like tiger biology, habitat, sub- species, distribution, threats, research methods wildlife act and NGO’s working towards wildlife conservation, about twenty questions were asked by using oral, audio and visual rounds. Stickers were given to students as token of appreciation. Tiger Mask: members wore tiger mask and sang a Tiger song written by William Blake with action in front of the tiger enclosure and attracted general public interest towards tiger and its conservation. Placard: followed by tiger song members went a round the huge tiger enclosure area with placard saying slogan. Members were given a task to meet at least one visitor and tell him/her not to buy any wildlife products. It was daring job for them but they were very successful in this job. Some visitors expressed the interest of taking photo with the member who was wearing mask & holding placard. Friendship band: members tied friendship bands on their friends wrist and exchanged the conservation message. Label and sticker: members were very happy to have stickers for their projects file and labels to give it to their friends to spread the conservation message. Finally members signed the pledge card. Teens for Planet Earth: A ppt presentation was given to introduce TPE for the members. They showed interest to choose a project and work it out. Submitted by: S. Mamatha, De Paul International Residential School, Mysore.Email : [email protected] Teens for Planet Earth, Bangladesh Background: Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB) organized a follow up meeting of the workshop titled Training Adult Advisers for Teens for Planet Earth in Bangladesh on July 27, 2007. The Adult Advisers (teachers, zoo educators and conservationists) came up with the information on the activities that they started with the environmental service learning projects involving their teen-aged students. Earlier the participants in a workshop held on June 8, 2007 pledged to involve the teen-aged students in conserving the biodiversity of the country. The Wildlife Trust will arrange a TEEN FAIR with these teen-agers with their projects sometime in December this year. This is an initiative to involve the teens, the future generations in Environmental Service Learning, which is very essential to conserve the biological diversity of the country. The teens of these projects will display their projects in December, 2007 in Teens Fair. All the activities are considered as practical lessons that have been narrated in their textbooks. This gives the teens an opportunity to understand the lessons what they are reading as theoretical texts. Registration to the www.teensforplanetearth: The participants were registered as an Adult Advisers to Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB). This time, WTB arranged the registration of the Adult Advisers with the www.teensforplanetearth as suggested by Dr. Judy Unis and Dr. Silversmith, Jeanine


of WCS. Adult Advisers were glad to know that now they are internationally recognized as Adult Advisers for Teens for Planet Earth in Bangladesh. The Registration Forms filled in by them were sent to the WCS. Inauguration: The workshop was inaugurated by Professor M.Harunur Rashid, Vice Chairman, WTB. Professor Md. Anwarul Islam, Chief Executive of the Trust welcomed the participants, while Ms Gawsia Wahidunnessa Chowdhury, Programme Officer of the WTB and Coordinator, Teens for Planet Earth in Bangladesh conducted the programme. Participants: The participants explained how they involved the teens in various activities related to nature and biodiversity conservation. In the workshop held on July 8, 2007, 19 participants were selected as Adult Advisers. Of them, 12 attended the follow up meeting; three of them informed that their teens started projects. The activities of all the projects were discussed in the follow up meeting.

Inaugurates by WTB Vice President Adult Advisors with WTB team Video Show: WTB recorded what the Adult Advisers presented in the first workshop “Training Adult Advisers for Teens for Planet Earth in Bangladesh” held on June 8, 2007; Video Clips on various events like “Challenge to work with teens: Think, pair, share”, “Pledge-to develop an Environmental Service Learning Project” and on some other activities were presented at the follow-up meeting. It was an most exciting event as they could visualize the pledge they made to start environmental service learning projects involving their Teens. The Adult Advisers enjoyed the show. Presentation of the Adult Advisers: All the Adult Advisers presented their activities. They explained how they were implementing their knowledge to develop an Environmental Service Learning Projects involving the teens. They discussed the joys, challenges to work with the teens. Following are the projects that have been discussed in the meeting: 1. Adult Adviser: Dr. Md. Mongur Morshed Chowdhury, Zoo Officer, Chittagong Zoo. Project: Waste Management - an eco-friendly initiative to keep the Chittagong Zoo CLEAN Name of the Group Members: Sabrina Aktar of class X, Nusrat Fatema and Nawrin Sultana of class IX; Amena Akter of class VIII. All of them are the students of Bidduth Unnayan Board High School. Link with the Text: The students read about the Zoological Gardens and Environmental Pollution. They were inspired to work as Volunteer for the waste management at Chittagong Zoo.


With the help of a School Teacher the Adult Adviser started his Environmental Service Learning Project, involving the Teens. These four teen-aged girls will construct some waste management bins inside the zoo. They will make dummy of some animals to hold the bins. They designed the animal-shaped bins and selected the sites. With the help of their Adult Adviser they got a small fund from a local company. They are trying their best to make the project a successfully. Their Adult Adviser is monitoring the work according to the direction of Teens for Planet Earth’s Action Plan developed by WCS and modified by WTB. They are going to make some awareness raising campaigns after the construction of the bins during holidays. Status: Before the final Environmental Service Learning Project Fair (Teens Fair), this group will keep WTB informed of their progress. 2. Adult Adviser: Mr. Md. Mostafizur Rahaman, Lecturer in Biology, Birshrestha Munshi Abdur Rouf Rifles College, Dhaka Project: Plantation Programme - to make the campus GREENER. Name of the Group Members: Shahriar, Rahadul Islam, Mahir Ashik and Raihan Habib of 9th standard (Branch: Shapla). Link with the Text: In 9th standard, they read the importance of trees and tree - plantation, role of plants in the ecosystem in their Biology textbook Chapter 13th: Living World and Environment, and Chapter 16th: Economic Biology The students requested their Adult Adviser to help them develop this project. The students developed the project plan, collected 150 saplings. They organized a plantation programme. They plan to demonstrate the role of plants in the ecosystem, and the economic values of plants. They believe that through this project they will be able to make their campus greener. Their Adult Adviser monitors their work according to the direction of Teens for Planet Earth’s Action Plan developed by WCS, and modified by WTB. . Status: The Adult Adviser requested WTB Team to visit his school to inspire the group. He will monitor and submit a monthly regularly until the final Environmental Service Learning Project Fair. 3. Adult Adviser: Mr. Md. Nurul Islam and Mrs. Kaniz Jamali. Mr. Nurul Islam attended the workshop ‘Training Adult Advisers for Teens for Planet Earth in Bangladesh’ of June 8, 2007. He shared his workshop knowledge and inspired his wife Mrs. Kaniz Jamali to become an Adult Adviser. She is a Biology Teacher at B.S.M.A.R Rifles College. They have made the plans to start their individual Environmental Service Learning Projects. Mr. Islam is the Adult Adviser for teen-aged boys’ group and Mrs. Islam is the Adult Adviser for teen-aged girls’ group. In the follow up meeting, Mrs. Islam attended as an Adult Adviser. Project: Two projects on Nature Conservation involving the teen-aged boys and girls. Name of the Group Members: They selected the students from 8th standard. They will send the names of the group members soon to WTB. Link with the Text: Their students selected the theme of the project from chapter IX titled Wildlife Conservation from their text book. The Adult Advisers are guiding their groups to come up with the work plan. The Adult Advisers will monitor their work according to the direction of Teens for Planet Earth’s Action Plan. Status: The group will inform WTB about the project’s progress regularly. 4. Adult Adviser: Mr. Amit Eruenus Anjus, Teacher, St. Josheph Higher Secondary School, Dhaka. He presented an excellent report on how they started the environmental service learning project involving the teens.


Project: Mushroom cultivation on the school compound titled “Mushroom - a source of Protein, and a source of medicine” The Adult Adviser shared his knowledge on the workshop of June 8, 2007 with his Principal and colleagues. He visited www.teensforplanetearth.com web page. Then he evaluated himself as a conservationist. He made a plan to choose the teens’ group for environmental service learning project. He selected the students who are really interested, have enthusiasm to serve for Mother Nature. He informed his students about the international project Teens for Planet Earth, Teens for Planet Earth in Bangladesh. He visited the web page and asked the students to also visit the page to understand the

theme of the project. The team linked up the environmental service learning project with their national school curriculum. The team seemed to be very organized who prepared a time budget for their activities during the project period. They collected information on Mushroom culture. The team selected a site on the campus for mushroom cultivation. The team has considers the project as a long-term work for other students after they leave the school. Their Adult Adviser will monitor their work according to the direction of Teens for Planet Earth’s Action Plan. Name of the Group Members: Group Leader Tanvir Karim, the other three members are Abrar Ahmed, Tahsin Tazwan and Morsheduzzaman. All are from 8th standard.

Link with the Text: The students linked up the project with chapter 6 of their Biology Text Book, where they study Fungi. Status: The Adult Adviser reports that the group members are confident to make their project a success. They want to launch an awareness programme on environmental service learning, and about their project. The group will update WTB about their project’s news regularly. 5. Adult Adviser: Mr. Md. Mostaq Ahmed, Senior Teacher, Birshrestha Munshi Abdur Rouf Rifles College. Project: A rural setting in an Urban Area titled ‘Love for the Green.’ Name of the Group Members: The Adult Adviser will let us know the full names of the team members soon. All are from standard VIII. Link with the Text: Students linked the theme of the project from the Text Book’s subject titled ‘Pollution and its Effects’. In this project the students are designing a model of a rural setting in an urban area. They are working on the theme and hope to depict wise management of wastes; unplanned urbanization; deforestation; desertification; and other effects of tree cutting in the Model. Through the model and various other activities they are planning to initiate a campaign to raise public awareness titled ‘Love for the Green’. The team will submit their Model to the appropriate authority for its implementation. The Adult Adviser has planned to buy some T-shirts as incentives for the team members. The team will design the T-shirt with some awareness raising messages from their text book. Their Adult Adviser is monitoring the work according to the direction of Teens for Planet Earth’s Action Plan. Status: The Adult Adviser finds the group very enthusiastic and as hopeful of their success. 6. Adult Adviser: Mr. Md. Mahmudur Rahman, Asst. Teacher, St. Joseph Higher Secondary School. Project: Plants for Planet Earth


Name of the Group Members: Four teen-aged boys are from 8th standard. However, the Adult Adviser is yet to give us their full names. Link with the Text: The students read about the importance of plants in an ecosystem and linked up the subject theme with the environmental service learning project. The team picked up the project theme from their Agriculture Book where the life of the plants has been introduced. The Adult Adviser shared his knowledge on the workshop titled “Training Adult Advisers for Teens for Planet Earth in Bangladesh” with his Principal and other colleagues in the school. He visited www.teensforplanetearth.com web page, and then planned to choose a teens’ group for environmental service learning project. He selected the students who have genuine interests and enthusiasm. He informed his students about Teens for Planet Earth programme. He helped his students visiting the webpage to know more about the theme of the project, service learning and environmental service learning. Then his students came up with the project theme. They started registering all the plant species on their campus. The team will also study; investigate the phenology, economic and medicinal values of those plant species. They are also planning to tag all the plant species of the campus. School authority inspired them for this documentation. The Adult Adviser is monitoring their work according to the direction of Teens for Planet Earth’s Action Plan. Status: The Adult Adviser is guiding his group and will send a monthly progress report to WTB. 7. Adult Adviser: Mr. Nurul Islam, Senior Teacher, Birshreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Rifles College. He is also a member of the UNESCO Cultural Exchange Programme in Bangladesh. Project: Song Birds Name of the Group Members: Team leader is Tamanna, the other members are Maria, Suborna and Rituporna. All the girls are from 9th standard. Link with the Text: Students linked up Environmental Service Learning Project with the Second Paper of their Bengali Literature, got the idea while reading and taking notes on the Essay titled ‘Our National Bird, Oriental Magpie Robin - the singing bird’. The Adult Adviser shared his knowledge on the workshop titled “Training Adult Advisers for Teens for Planet Earth in Bangladesh” with his Principal of the school. He visited www.teensforplanetearth.com, read those papers given during the workshop of WTB. He discussed his knowledge on service learning, environmental service learning and the international project Teens for Planet Earth and Teens for Planet Earth in Bangladesh with his students. He then helped the students visit the web page. The team is going to take notes on the causes of declining the birds from the city. The team is working to collect collecting information, and other documents to make the project attractive. They will fix bird nest box at some places. They plan to display the project to raise awareness among others. Their Adult Adviser is monitoring the work. Status: The project activities are in progress. The Adult Adviser will send the monthly progress report of the project to WTB. 8. Adult Adviser: Mr. MR Deeder, Senior Teacher (ART), Beershreshtha Munshi Abdur Rauf Rifles College Project: Environmental Education through Art Name of the Group Members: All are teen-aged girls from 6th standard. The Adult Adviser will send the full names later. Link with the Text: They read about the environment, nature and natural resources. Then in their Art Class they planned to link up environmental service learning and text book information through Art/Painting.


The Adult Adviser selected the students who understood the theme of the project clearly. The team started drawing the natural resources of Bangladesh and will exhibit them. These drawings are one kind of thematic documentation which will educate others about the natural resources of the country. With these drawings the group will arrange exhibitions in their school and in some other schools. The Adult Adviser is monitoring the work according to the direction of Teens for Planet Earth’s Action Plan. They are going to organise some awareness raising campaigns after the construction of the bins during holidays. Status: The Adult Adviser requested WTB Team to visit his school to encourage the team members. He gave a Drawing to the WTB where his teen-aged students who read about Sundarbans, one of the largest mangrove forests in the world, in the Biology Book and tried to let others know about Sundarbans and it’s resources, livelihood inside the Sundarbans, etc. 9. Adult Adviser: Mr. Mohammad Ahsanullah, Science Teacher, Government Laboratory High School & college, Dhaka Project: Medical Waste Management Name of the Group Members: Kazi Md. Ashik, Erfan Chowdhury, T.M. Moniruzzaman (Sunny), Zakir Safi-e-Chowdhury of Standard IX. Link with the Text: Biology Text books of class IX and X; Chapter 14. Topic: Environmental Pollution and it’s Conservation”. The outcome of this project is to raise awareness among the city dwellers for proper management of medical wastes and for conservation of the environment. The group members discussed in details with their adult adviser about the theme and started collecting information. They made a work plan and developed a questionnaire which contains the following questions: What is Medical Waste? The source of Medical Waste.What is the different kinds of Medical Wastes? What are the negative impacts of Medical Waste on environment and on living world around us? How could we manage the Medical Waste properly? What are the steps to be taken to improve the Medical Waste Management properly? What measures will be taken by the Ministry of Forest and Environment for proper Medical Waste Management to conserve Nature? The group members feel concerned about the unchecked and rapid growth of city hospital numbers. They will try and protect the human life and the environment from potential agents which may cause diseases from medical wastes! They will produce education materials to raise awareness for students, teachers, community leaders, and planners in the government. The Adult Adviser monitors the work according to the direction of Teens for Planet Earth’s Action Plan. Status: The Adult Adviser will keep WTB informed the progress every month. Mr. Sikandar Ali,who is also a teacher in the same school showed interests to work with the adult adviser. 10. Adult Adviser: Ms. Farida Parvin, Assistant Teacher, Dhanmondi Kamrunnesa Government Girls’ High School & College. Project: Flavia (a medicinal plant) cultivation on the school campus Name of the Group Members: All the group members are teen-aged girls from Standard VIII.


Link with the Text: Biology book of Standard VIII; page 153. Topic: Forest and Environment: importance of plants; values of medicinal plants. The group is interested to develop their project highlighting Flavia plantation. They collected information on the medicinal values of Flavia. They are designing the project. The team will bring their message to herbal drug formulators, researchers and general users. The students already planted some medicinal plants on the school campus. They planted in the earthen tubs so that they could be taken from one place to the other. Their Adult Adviser is monitoring their work according to the direction of Teens for Planet Earth’s Action Plan. Status: The Adult Adviser will inform WTB the status of the progress on a regular basis. Four more Adult Advisers couldn’t attend the meeting. However, they informed that they started their projects. The following are the Adult Advisers and their projects: Dr. Arabinda Kumar Saha, Deputy Curator, Rangpur Zoo Project: His teens’ project is themed on Animal Teasing inside Zoo. Dr. Syed Ali Ahsan, Scientific Officer, Dhaka Zoo Project: His teens’ project is themed on Zoo Mapping (Dhaka Zoo) Mrs. Bilkis Jahan, Junior Lecturer, Jahangirnagar University School and College and her husband Mr. Ashraf Ahmed, Assistant Director, Teachers, Students Centre, Jahangirnagar University. Projects: Their teens’ projects themed on Plantation and Animal Welfare Mr. Sikandar Ali Khan, Senior Teacher, Govt. Lab High School & college Project: His Teens’ project is themed on Animal Conservation. The members of his teens’ team are Abhishek Morshed, Navid Imtiaz, Mostafiz Imtiaz and Sumit Tarofdar of Standard IX. In our initial workshop 19 Adult Advisers attended. Of them. 16 started their projects involving 64 students. Of these 64 students 24 are girls and 40 are boys. Open discussion on the Prospects, limitations and challenges to start the Project: The parents at times feel that their children are wasting time by doing these sorts of extracurricular activities. So, the Adult Advisers are now trying to integrate these projects with some class assignments. During this discussion the participants were able to ventilate their limitations and prospects. It was revealed that one of the participants is a mushroom cultivator whose expertise could be utilized by the group who took up the project to grow mushrooms in their school. The Adult Advisers agreed to send progress reports to WTB. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks from WTB Chief Executive, Professor Md. Anwarul Islam. Submitted by: Gawsia Wahidunnessa Chowdhury Programme Officer, Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh, COSMOS Centre 69/1 New Circular Road, Malibagh, Dhaka; Email: [email protected]

World Environment Day 2007- Reports - ZOO'S PRINT special thanks go to Mr. Sushil Halifax Dean,...

Documents

Transcript of World Environment Day 2007- Reports - ZOO'S PRINT special thanks go to Mr. Sushil Halifax Dean,...