Education & Hope for Wildlife!

 

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“No one in the world needs a Rhino horn but a Rhino.”
… Paul Oxton

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” … Nelson Mandela

Two quotes to start a sharing & the similarity between them is both are from the continent which is probably richest in wildlife, yes, both are from the African continent. Though Paul is European but find his purpose of life in African forests whereas Mr Mandela is born & brought-up African & another similarity is while the later has to fight his entire life for rights of the humans, the earlier name is fighting for the rights of all other species than the humans & irony is both wars are being fought on the same land! Well, the reason for this sharing & choosing such words is wildlife (once again, some Puneri readers will frown) conservation but not from the view of some wildlife NGO or forest officers or researcher but from the school teachers & occasion is Jungle Belles recent webinar of three prominent school’s teachers on wildlife! Right from choosing the topic even few of the participants where a bit hesitant as what they can speak or share about wildlife conservation as isn’t this the job of the people in the list I mentioned above (foresters, NGOs’, researcher etc) & what some urban school teachers can have a say on wildlife conservation, is the hidden question these teachers had in their minds when my friend Hemangi opened up the topic of webinar to them! But today what wildlife needs is, support from every platform of the society & what better platform can there be than the schools & colleges as there lies the future of our society. And then it was the awareness campaign from schools which curbed burning of firecrackers at the time of Diwali & helped to reduce air & noise pollution levels in the cities not just in Pune but all across the country! Exactly that’s why Jungle Belles chose to have teachers on board for wildlife conservation as someone has to make a start, right? And I fortunately happened to listen to the webinar & the outcome is actually getting many new ideas in which lies the hope for wildlife. And then the crux of the initiative is, all these ideas are in the hands of the people who will be sharing as well executing them with thousands of youngsters making it a multiplying effect, which is the need of the time for the wildlife if we want to save it!

The three teachers of this webinar were from different segment was another best part as we want entire society to be part of wildlife conservation & if Ms Bhawana madam is Principal of Jr College at Symbiosis, Kiwale then Mr Vinita is from Millennium School, Kothrud as well we had Ms Antonete who is Principal of one of the oldest convent schools which is St Joseph! And best part is, all three institutes have their own campus full of plantation as well loads of greenery & on top of that Ms Bhawana is from Chandrapur where Tadoba Project Tiger is located, so they all have their exposure to Urban wildlife in some way. Here let me tell you the biggest difficulty I have found in awareness about wildlife conservation & responsibility of individual citizen towards the cause & that difficulty is most of the students & grownups has never been exposed to wildlife in true sense & that’s why it’s difficult to make them understand what wildlife is, in the first place! Unfortunately in our country the definition of good education is which gets you good marks which eventually helps you to earn good money & in this definition of education, wildlife doesn’t fit, at least in the present scenario, this is a major problem for the teachers when its cultivating wildlife in the students!

All the three teachers shared their views as well as the efforts they are taking for making the students aware about wildlife which includes short field trips as well projects related to nature, arranging lectures of wildlife experts for the students as well as planting of indigenous trees in the campus. Yet at the same time they all agreed the efforts or say initiatives for wildlife conservation needs to extend to a larger number of students as well to their parents too. And for that the teachers showed open attitude for suggestions from the jungle belles & tying up with wildlife NGOs’ as together the goal will be a lot easy to achieve, was the important aspect. This willingness from the teachers for wildlife conservation is very important on the background of the negative approach of many commercially successful companies for wildlife, which I have myself experienced a lot! Because when it's spending for any celebrity or sponsoring an event which is a crowd puller, most of the business houses are happy to spend generously but when it’s about wildlife related spending then they all have hundreds of reasons for not spending or simply avoid. I think this is in a way failure of the wild lifers, as we (I am deliberately considering myself in the league) are a failure to make the masses know that wildlife is important & even it can help in making money also along & there is no harm in making money along with conservation of wildlife as focus! This is where these educational institutes can make the difference as if wildlife is made part of syllabus & added in getting good marks then it will be carried by these students in their respective career in making good money too part of which eventually can come to wildlife conservation in any form, even as time spent for wildlife is ok! And for this, all three teachers agreed to this aspect to make wildlife as part of syllabus at every level of education may it be primary, secondary or even junior college without putting any bar such as faculty or division. And for that we need to educate the teachers which will first have to understand what wildlife is, which is also discussed on the webinar! Here is where organizations like Jungle Belles & educational institutes can be teamed up for wildlife!

At present there are actually three categories of wildlife, one is urban wildlife, second is rural wildlife & third is raw or actual wildlife & every teacher must have exposure to all these three & later the exposure should be percolated to every student also. Urban wildlife is biodiversity of plants & animals (birds) in & around cities or twos, for e.g., pashan hills which are in the neighbourhood of St Joseph school. As well, whatever thick plantations Symbiosis, kiwale & Millennium school has made is also tomorrow's urban wildlife only. There are many such spots in Pune-PCMC which need to be explored so we come to know what we have to conserve within our own backyard. Then rural wildlife is the biodiversity around towns & cities for e.g., grasslands on south-east outskirts of Pune or Mulshi (western ghat) areas Devrais & vegetations & this includes farmlands also. One day field trips or overnight trips can be arranged to know facts (read as threats) to these wildlife habitats. And lastly the raw or actual wildlife which for common man is known as Project Tigers or the forests where you can see big predators as its easy to say Save Tiger or click its images from the safety of a vehicle but what about living along with the tigers & hardships of that life, unless you understand that how you will save or protect it! And one effective way can be, exchange of students from the schools’ nearby forests (such as Tadoba, Melghat) with schools in Pune & I know it's wilder than the wildlife! But please give it a thought, if we can arrange an exchange of students from foreign countries to understand their culture then why not follow the same pattern to understand our very own forests, right? And with the support of the right people & done in the right way this is doable, all we need is to plan it properly & yes take the parents in confidence even they too can accompany their kids for some time & this can be done in summer or winter holidays not necessary for year long program. The target should be making urban students understand hardships & challenges of living in actual wilderness & yet love the wildlife!

Such & many more aspects of academics going hand in hand with wildlife were discussed & on a personal note, the webinar ended on a very positive & hopeful note, with a promise of more such initiatives to be worked together & I think there lies the green & bright future of wildlife!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at You Tube link below..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

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www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/