Tryst with nature
Geetha Iyer
Travel is a learning experience. Excursions are a travel event most school children look forward to. They are opportunities to not only see new places but also to socialize – spend time with their friends and come to bond with some of their classmates. For the teachers and school, it’s a way of providing new learning scenarios and experiences for their students. Despite possessing evidence of their utility and importance as an informal learning mode, schools have yet to explore the full potential of travel as an instrument of education.
Visiting places of natural beauty has always been a part of school excursions. Visits to places that are protected areas, such as wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and biosphere reserves are slowly gaining popularity. Such visits offer a different kind of experience, as these are places of not only natural beauty but also the last remaining repositories (or homes?) for critically endangered species. They are designated to conserve biodiversity and allow it to flourish without being hunted or accidently killed.
Ecotours
Excursion, in its inception stage, was mostly a sightseeing tour to places that were scenic or historically significant. Places with waterfalls, beaches, forts and monuments were generally chosen and the goal was to relax, have fun and not think about school or studies. But pioneers of holistic education expanded the scope of school travel into a learning-cum-sightseeing event. What better place to learn biology than outdoors, amongst plants and animals! Protected areas are the places to study concepts from biology, geography, ecology and environment science.
However, study tours have sometimes been used by poachers as an excuse to visit such places to harvest rare plants and animals. Unregulated access to places such as jungles, water bodies, etc., soon turned disastrous for the resident wild animals and plants. Therefore, such places became protected areas, designated as wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and biosphere reserves. However, with prior permission, certain zones within such places, identified as ecotourism zones, are accessible to nature lovers and educational institutions. Ecotourism is about visits to these places. A school visit to an ecozone is a rewarding and rich experience, one that a school should infuse into its learning programme. The importance of environment education and conservation does not need special emphasis. Our world is witnessing an unprecedented loss of biological diversity, mostly due to activities of human beings. If this trend is to be arrested then creating sensitivity to nature’s bounty should be the priority of education. Meaningful learning would then involve at least one visit every year to different ecologically rich areas. This will not merely remain educational but will leave the participants with a sense of connectedness to other creatures in the wild. Their lifestyle choices will then be based on understanding the need for conservation. The unforgettable, lifelong memories they will return with will keep the students connected with nature for long.
Planning the visit
Most protected areas have an officer responsible for overseeing ecotourism events. Contact the person, discuss all requirements as well as your objectives and draw up a suitable programme.
Protected areas are places for wildlife to roam about freely. Emphasize to students that these are primarily homes for the wild and we therefore need to be careful with our explorations and not expose ourselves to unwarranted danger. Wildlife may be spotted in such places if one moves quietly. Excitement on spotting wild animals is but natural. However, shouting or rushing towards the animals will only frighten them. In case of animals such as wild pigs, wild dogs or elephants, such sudden movements and loud shouts may result in the animals charging towards you. Hence it’s important to keep a check on one’s excitement if one is to observe wildlife. Throwing stones is a favourite past time of many. This should be strictly avoided. If on foot, then it is best to walk on the path. Walking into a bush to see a butterfly or a bird is best avoided as these are places where scorpions, snakes and such animals could be resting during day time. It is for this same reason – to avoid getting bitten by animals – that shoes should be worn all the time while moving inside a forest.
If near water, care should be taken to not fall into the waterbody while chasing an insect or some other wildlife. Remaining with the group and following the instructions of the forest guard is very important. Trying to explore on one’s own must be strictly prohibited. Speaking in low voices and communicating one’s observations through signs will help one observe diverse organisms.
Ecozones are places rich in ecological diversity. Protected areas are not merely forests but also marine, riverine and estuarine areas. Kanha Tiger reserve, Kalakad Mundanturai Tiger Reserve, Gir National Park are forests; Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, and Mahatma Gandhi National Park in Andamans are protected marine areas. Sunderbans with long stretches of mangroves on the river Brahmaputra and Gahirmatha Wildlife Sanctuary are examples of aquatic areas. The Desert National Park, near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan as its name suggests is the ecosystem of the Thar desert. The ecosystem in each of these places is unique and many of them are the last protected areas for critically endangered animals. Lions may be seen only in Gir and nowhere else in India. Various species of turtles, especially the Olive Ridley, come in large numbers to nest at Gahirmatha in the winter; the event known as arribada when seen will help understand the significance of conservation.
Each place has its unique diversity. Many bird watchers visit the Desert National Park in Rajasthan to see the Great Indian Bustard. The gazelle, chinkara can be seen in these desert ecosystems as also other animals such as the desert fox, spiny-tailed lizard, demoiselle crane, etc. The Siberian crane is a migratory bird that regularly came to Bharatpur bird sanctuary in the winter.
It is not just the animals and plants that make these places unique. The geography and geology of many of these places are also worthy of study. Keibul Lamjao National Park in Manipur is unique as it is probably the only ‘floating sanctuary’ in the whole world. Floating because most of the park is a swamp; wetlands with a floating vegetation called phumdi. This wetland is part of the Loktak lake which is the largest fresh water lake in India. The sanctuary is the only place where you can see the brow-antlered deer, the Sangai, which is adapted to walk on the floating vegetation.
Many of the ecozones are places of fragile ecosystems. Visits to such places thus need to be planned carefully. Thanks to the Internet, information about places is available. However, the Internet is also a place for misleading information, hence use more than one source to know about these places. Magazines such as Sanctuary Asia or Hornbill as well as books will provide you with fairly accurate information about these places. All protected areas maintain official websites which may be referred to. Established institutions such as the Bombay Natural History Society arrange visits to such places. They may be contacted for information.
There are also other non-governmental organizations who may provide you with a resource person to accompany you on the trip. An expert with some idea of the place you intend to visit will be of tremendous help.
Visits to forests, marine areas, rivers, estuaries, hills and mountains serve to bring children close to nature. With ever expanding urbanization, the chasm between nature and humans is only widening. Even a house lizard provokes a cry of fear and is seen as a creature to be squashed. The aseptic and plastic environment of urban areas is moving children away from reality; it masks the connections that drive healthy life. A periodic tryst with nature is a process of not only rejuvenation but also a way of creating awareness that our activities in the far removed city can impact the ecosystem and populations of living beings in these remote areas. In this fast paced life dominated by competition, a glimpse of life in a natural region may help evoke respect for life and reinvent the meaning of ‘sacred’.
A list of suggested activities
• Tree watch, Flower watch, Birdwatch or butterfly watch/biodiversity watch. • Studying a tree as an ecosystem. • Watching ants or spiders making webs. • Observing scats or animal droppings, pugmarks, footprints, etc. • Observing different types of nests – birds’, insects’, etc. • Making bark rubbings of trees to identify. • Geographical features of the place and its relationship with living organisms. • Food webs. • Interview or talk with rangers, guards and watchers to know how the areas are protected.
Checklist
- List the objectives of the visit and share the same with the officials of PAs (Protected Areas).
- Carry permission letter and book in advance accommodation within the ecozone.
- Advice students about clothes and footwear suited for the area.
- Binoculars, field guides of birds and butterflies will be useful.
- A pocket notebook and pencil/pen to keep record of observations.
- Avoid plastic bags and materials.
- Use nature friendly products to the extent possible.
- Be sure to advise students about being sensitive to the practices and lifestyles of indigenous communities residing within the PAs.
The author is a consultant for science and environment education. She can be reached at scopsowl@gmail.com.
