What does a Nature Club do?

Once a Nature Club is formed a team from WWF-India will conduct an orientation programme for key mem-bers. It would be mandatory for the club members to meet at least once in a month and conduct certain mandatory activities, the details of these are provided in this brochure. Members will also be offered a variety of exciting and engaging activities in which they can participate and be a part of Nature Conservation. A calendar of activities will be provided before start of each month, which will enable you to choose the activi-ties in which you want to participate. WWF-India hopes to reach out to nature lovers and budding conservation-ists.

Complimentary Activities

The members of an NCI will be offered the following complimentary activities:1. Film screenings at the WWF-India Auditorium followed by a talk or interaction with Conservationists/Experts2. A Nature Trail3. Resource support for Environment Education activi-ties carried out in school4. Events and competitions on predetermined signifi-cant conservation days5. An e-newsletter6. Library reference facilities in the months of May and June, 12 noon to 4.30 pm., Monday to Friday7. Storytelling session – Nature stories with a well-known storyteller.

Mandatory Activities

An NCI member must carry out the following activities in its school:1. The members of the NCI must meet at least once in every month and send the minutes of the meeting to WWF-India either by email or by post.2. Every NCI member must undertake one project per year, the framework for this will be showcased at the annual gathering of NCIs.

The Project

School Green-belt Ecosystem

A forest is best defined as an assemblage of ecosystems dominated by trees and other woody vegetation, i.e, a dense growth of trees and plants including grasses, herbs, shrubs and climbers covering a large area. The world’s forests fulfill many roles such as providing renewable raw materials and energy, maintaining biodi-versity and protecting land and water resources. Forests influence climate change mainly by affecting the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When forests grow, carbon is removed from the atmosphere and absorbed in wood, leaves and soil. Protected areas of forest are important to conserve biological diversity. A forest offers a variety of habitats for different species such as insects, birds, reptiles and mammals.

The year 2011 has been declared as the International Year of Forests (IYF 2011) by the United Nations to raise awareness and to strengthen sustainable forest management, conservation and sustainable develop-ment of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations. This objective can be achieved in different ways, one of which is through educational institutions by involving students to document the greenery in the institution’s campus and surroundings. By participating in the documentation activity, the students will be able to learn more about their surroundings while promoting conservation and achieve the objective of IYF 2011. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration, more than a billion hectares of lost and degraded forest land exist across the globe which can be restored.

The Schools can do activities pertaining to conservation and development of the Green-belt around their school including roadside plantation near their school , planta-tion on nearby vacant land in and around the school campus, cleaning-up and thereby restoring and conserv-ing the biodiversity of that area. Schools are also requested to document the trees available on their campus and provide signage to identify them, WWF-India will be happy to provide technical assistance. WWF-India expects the associated NCI members and their students to be a part of the documentation process and make a report on it. The documentation would be a year long activity after which the schools should submit their report to the WWF-India office.

Some important points to be kept in mind:• Develop love towards the plants.• Try to grow as many plants as possible.• Try to identify the plants (indigenous and exotic species) in the surroundings and their importance, etc.• Collect fallen plants or plant parts. Identifying them, drying them, pressing them and preparing 'Herbaria' can be fun as well an educational activity.• Try to record valuable information about the plant's flowering, fruiting patterns and maintain data with regard to seasonal variations.• Try to raise a small garden with ornamental herbs, shrubs, trees and other useful plants.• Make a note on the overall biodiversity of that area.• Collect pictures of useful plants and also make paintings or posters of them.• Encourage people to plant more trees and highlight the urgency to increase the green cover.

A variety of workshop/activities will be offered to the NCI members at concessional rates

1. Nature Trails2. Nature Camps3. Nature Writer’s Workshop, Illustrator’s Workshop and Recycling Workshop.

Other Activities