Aaranyak Organizes Event to Educate Students on Forest Ecology
Aaranyak, with support from the Wipro Foundation and LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd. (LASA), organized an event titled “Nature’s Wonderland – A journey of curiosity” to educate students on forest ecology in the urban landscape. The event focused on forest biodiversity at the Reserve Forest in Kamrup District, Guwahati, Assam.
Ten students from Rani High School, along with their faculty, participated in the journey, which took place on Sunday. Aaranyak highlighted the pressing environmental issues facing urban areas, such as deforestation, the urban heat island effect, pollution, climate change, and freshwater scarcity.
Cities are experiencing rapid urbanization, leading to a strain on natural resources such as land, air, forests, rivers, and wetlands. Aaranyaks Biologist, Jigyas Boruah, briefed the participants on birdwatching, teaching them about the ecology and habitat characteristics of various bird species found in the Reserve Forest.
Despite environmental challenges, Guwahati, with its green-covered hills, thrives due to the presence of forests within and surrounding the city. Aaranyak emphasized the multitude of environmental services provided these forests, such as heat mitigation, air and noise pollution reduction, and groundwater recharge.
The event also included a session on satellite-based navigation devices and trilateration, as well as a meditation session the Kopili stream. Aaranyak’s environmentalist, Tanvi Hussain, provided insights into the use of GPS and the process of trilateration.
The highlight of the event was a biodiversity understanding and story-telling session, where students collected fallen leaves and arranged them to depict the variety and variability of flora and fauna. Another group arranged the leaves to outline the shrinking of wild habitats, emphasizing the importance of human-elephant coexistence.
The activity showcased the enthusiasm and awareness of the GenZ participants on environmental issues and biodiversity conservation. The coordination and conduction of the event were overseen Aaranyak’s Pranab Goswami and Wasima Begum, facilitated Bijay Kalita and Bikash Goyari.