News updates, 2014

1. World Sparrow Day 2014

The day was observed by the Kerala State Office by conducting a sparrow survey of Thiruvananthapuram City as a pre-runner and organizing an outreach campaign on the day. The bird watcher volunteers of WWF-India conducted a 3 day survey of the tiny bird in six selected areas of the City and counted totally 127 birds and the survey report along with the bird numbers, concerns and suggestions for their protection was shared with the mainline print media on Sparrow Day. An interactive public outreach campaign was conducted in the Thiruvananthapuram Museum &Zoo Compound mainly targeting early morning walkers and joggers. The participants were encouraged to take part in a game where they would be blind-folded and asked to find the three bird nests erected on PVC pipes in the close vicinity and retrieve the eggs in the nests. The event attracted the active participation from all age groups. The winners were given a cardboard bird nest designed to be easily installed in their homes. A sticker campaign was also undertaken to reach out to the masses.
 

2. World Environment Day 2014

Kerala State Office was active in observing WED 2014 with the following events in various locations:

1. State-level exhibition as part of the Department of Environment and Climate Change Local Environment Awareness Programme (LEAP). Kerala State Office put a stall with 48 exhibits of 3X3 feet size covering the topics of Biodiversity of Kerala, Endangered animals of India and Endemic species of the Western Ghats. Around 3000 people visited the exhibition held at Kottayam from 3^rd to 5^th June 2014.
2. The State Office in association with AMAS, Neyyatinkaralaunched a campaign to plant bamboo saplings along the banks of Neyyar River for riverbank protection and also provide 1000 Curry Leaf saplings in 1000 homesteads to ensure its sustenance with the ultimate objective to avoid pesticide infested curry leaves available in the market coming to our dining tables.
3. The State Director was invited as the Chief Guest for the WED prog at Dept. of Environmental Sciences, University of Kerala and St. John’s College, Anchal and delivered the lead talk titled  ‘Climate Change and You’.
4. Prepared a multimedia presentation on the theme of WED 2014 and shared with all our network schools, colleges and associates for grass root level awareness programmes

 

3. Monsoon Camp at Aralam WLS

A three days Monsoon Camp was conducted at Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary from 13^th to 15^th June to familiarize the campers with monsoon – its beauty,impacts and its importance. Seventeen nature enthusiasts from different parts of the State attended the camp. The participants had a very different and thrilling experience with significant and diverse field observations and learning.
 

4. Energy Conservation Seminars and Free CFL distribution

A Seminar on Energy Conservation was organized jointly by WWF-India, EMC, HELP Foundation and MayyanadGrama Panchayat at the Panchayat Auditorium on 5^th July 2014. Around 120 people, mainly women, attended. Renjan Mathew Varghese, State Director, WWF-India led the session on ‘Sustainable Development and Ecological Footprint’. Sri. Subash, Energy Technologist, EMC led the technical session on ‘Practical Tips to Household level Energy Conservation’. Two CFLs each were given to the participants.
 
As part of “Going beyond the Hour” for Earth Hour 2014, seven hundred CFLs were freely distributed among the households in the 8 tribal colonies of Vazhachal Forest Division on 29^th and 30^th July 2014. The programme was organized in association with KSEB, EMC and Western Ghats NilgirisLandscape programme of WWF-India. The functions were jointly managed by the team from the State Office and the Landscape. It was a good time of interaction and mutual learning from each other.
 

5. Teachers Training Workshops at Konni and Thrissur 

A Teachers Training Workshop supported by CPREEC, Chennai was held at Ecotourism Centre, Konni on 11^th July 2014 on the theme of ‘Western Ghats’. It was attended by 42 teachers from schools of Pathanamthitta district. Sri.T.Pradeepkumar IFS (DFO Konni) and Sri. Mathew P.S. (Dy. Dir. of Edn.) were the chief guests.  Mr.S.Radhakrishnan, Dy. Director (Wildlife Edn.) and A.K. Sivakumar, Sr. Education Officer led the sessions.
A second workshop was held at KM Bhavan'sVidyaMandir, Pottore, Thrissur on 22^nd July 2014 on the same theme. It was attended by 36 teachers from different schools of Thrissur district. Sri.Abdul Bashir, Rtd. Divisional Manager, Kerala Forest Development Corporation and Senior Education Officer led the sessions.
 

6. Friday Forum in August 2014

The first Friday Forum of this academic year was held at the Museum Auditorium, Thiruvananthapuram on 8^th August on the theme ‘Walking & Bicycling, – Save the Environment & Stay Healthy’. Dr.Sankar Ram, Medical Officer from Directorate of Sports & Youth Affairs led the session. The session was conducted in association with the Indus Cycling Embassy and Mr. Prakash and his team of volunteers exhibited various models of cycle available in the market nowadays and explained the benefits of each model. Around 130 students from 5 different schools attended the Friday Forum.
 

7. Heronry Count in Pathanamthitta District

Senior Education Officer, our regular volunteersMr.C.Harikumar, Ms.NehaWaikar, Ms.SayujyaAnand and Mr.Jaichand Johnson along with the Kerala Forests & Wildlife Department officials conducted a single day Heronry Count in Pathanamthitta district on 10^th August 2014 under the Green Partnership Programme - a combined effort by Forest Dept. and others to document the avifauna outside the forests in the State. The team visited 6 heronries at Kilivayal, Kulanada, Adoor, Pandalam, Mepral, Eramallikkara and Venpala and collected data regarding the bird species, number of nests and trees.
 

8. Wild Wisdom Quiz

The City-level Quiz of Wild Wisdom 2014 was held on 23rd August 2014 at Vedamanickyam Hall, LMS Compound, Thiruvananthapuram. 8 schools were represented in the Junior level and 17 schools in the middle level. Aaron Dev Jose and Pooja Bijoy of Le’ColeChempaka, Thiruvananthapuram became the winners of the middle level. Ganesh Chandran and Sarangof SaraswathiVidyalaya, Vattiyoorkavu came up in second place and Hrudaya R. Krishna and Devabala S. of Christ Nagar Central School in the third position.  The junior level quiz for class 3 to 5 was won by Viswakalyan Reddy and AdityKishor of Loyola School. Mathew Behnan Cherian and Hrudayesh R. Krishnan came up in second place and Aditya M. Nair and NamitaGopan of SaraswathiVidyalayain the third position. Mr.Athul Chandra of Quiz Works, New Delhi mastered the quiz and Mr. Renjan Mathew Varghese and Mr. A.K.Sivakumar of WWF-India coordinated the event. The winners will compete with the other winners from 28 cities across the country on 1st October 2014 at New Delhi.
 

9. Common Bird Monitoring Programme

WWF-India, Kerala State Office co-ordinated the Common Bird Monitoring Programme (CBMP) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts held from 12^th to 15^th September 2014 under the Green Partnership Programme. Senior Education Officer and Sri.C.Harikumar were the reviewers for these districts.
 

10. Birding at Ashtamudi Lake

As follow-up of the World Migratory Bird Day 2014 held at Kollam in May 2014, the monthly birding at Ashtamudi Lake was conducted on 15^th September with the participation of 8 volunteers led by the Senior Education Officer. 32 species of birds were reported including migratory species.