West Bengal

Earth Day was observed By WWF-India WBSO in Kolkata. The programme started early morning by a nature trail to a snake park cum mini zoo in the outskirts of Kolkata city. A group of 50 participants attended this programme most of whom were from Humanities Association, an informal school of underprivileged children. Some of the college students from one of WWF's nature club also joined the trail. The group was accompanied by Mrs. Saswati Sen, Ms. Sangita Mitra , Mr. Samya Basu and Mr. Debashis Ghoshal from Kolkata Office and few teachers from the schools. For most of the students this has been a unique experience and exposure to nature where they had the opportunity to handle live animals and observe their behaviour. WWF officials explained the objectives behind celebrating earth day every year and its significance.

WBSO has been observing this day since last 10 years in collaboration with American Consulate, Kolkata and last year received the Earth Day Partnership Award from the consulate in recognition of outstanding leadership and cooperation to raise awareness about environmental preservation and sustainable development.

WWF-India as a part of Climate Action Group (CAG) took part in a rally to mark the occasion of International Climate Action Day on 24th Oct, 2009 in Kolkata. The rally started from Sahid Minar near Esplanade and ended at Mohur Kunj near Birla Planetorium. Participants from 15 civil society organisations, different schools and eminent personalities joined this rally in presence of several media representatives.

WWF-India, WBSO organized a consultative meet on Impact of Climate change on agriculture and farmers adaptations with collaborative support from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on 13^th October 2009 at Brahmananda Hall, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark.

The deliberations in this workshop involved participation from different climatic zones of West Bengal and issues like

• R & D needs for documentation of the impact and interventions required to mitigate the same, observations in phenology etc.
• Cropping pattern, identification of farmers’ level adaptations and present constraints with reference to climatic changes.

The outcome from this workshop will facilitate developing a knowledge base and adaptive strategies for future prospects in agriculture.

The programme was inaugurated by Mrs. S. Sen , State Director WWF-India, WBSO and chaired by Prof A. Chowdhury of S. D. Marine Biological Research Institute. Mr. S. K. Mitra , Executive Director , NABARD and Mr. Mohanaiah , CGM and Mrs. R. Gain, Director, Natural Resource Management Centre of NABARD were the distinguished guests on this occasion. Around 50 participants from different universities, academic institutes, research labs and NGOs were present including some farmers.

WWF-India, WBSO organised an interschool quiz competition on 6th October at Satyajit Ray Auditorium, Rabindranath Tagore research centre, ICCR to mark the occassion of wildlife week. 12 schools participated among the invited entries and it was conducted by Dr. S. Mitra (Sr. Project Officer, WWF-India, WBSO). After the elimination round, 5 schools could make it for the final. The winning teams were from St. James (1st) , Sri Shikshayatan (2nd) and St. Augustine Days School (3rd). There was a film show and a musical performance by eminent singer Mrs. Lopamudra Mitra at the end.
 
Mr. M. Sengupta, Chairman of State Advisory Board and Mr. N. Dhar, MD MacKintosh Burn & Company graced the occasion with Ms. Saswati Sen , State Director of WWF-India, WBSO. WWF members , NGO representatives and students from schools and colleges were present in this programme.