‘Wild Mysuru’ drive to draw children into nature's fold

In an effort to turn students into nature enthusiasts, a group of green activists have come together to introduce the importance of biodiversity among school students. Volunteers of ‘Wild Mysuru’, an organisation, have chalked out an educative programme, ‘Biodiversity Around Us’, for the students.

The volunteers will visit the schools and conduct sessions among children about the importance of nature, wildlife and a variety of species around them. The organisation will conduct an educative programme in Mysuru city, and their main target is government school students.

The nature around us is home to rich biodiversity. The expanding urbanisation is somewhat replacing the sylvan surroundings. Children nowadays are much inclined towards digital media which is why they do not notice the existing tranquil environment around them, says S Shylajesha of Wild Mysuru.

In order to make children aware of nature at their doorstep, the members of Wild Mysuru—G Chandrashekar and Nisarga Srinivas and Shylajesha—have taken up an initiative to bring children into the fold of nature. Students from different schools studying in class eight and nine were taken on nature walks. The children were introduced to rich biodiversity and the importance of nature conservation by the resource persons, he said.

The organisation had conducted a few sessions for schoolchildren. Professional nature activists and wildlife enthusiasts will soon conduct a session on the school premises to educate students about the biodiversity around them. Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sankar had conducted a session for schoolchildren recently. Each session will be held for four hours. Visual media such as photographs and videos will be used along with some nature games for children. The programme will be held in different stages such as the introduction of common plants and animals, migratory birds, insects, amphibians and so on, says Shylajesha.

The main objective of the programme is to make students aware of the rich biodiversity and the importance of nature conservation. Through this programme, we are looking forward to seeing students turn into nature enthusiasts and follow it as a hobby or as a career option in the future, he said.