Teens to promote forest conservation

JAMSHEDPUR: The forest department has started building a team of forest ambassadors to promote forest and wildlife conservation among natives of the villages around Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. On October 2, the forest department will kick off a week-long programme where teenage boys and girls of the 85 villages in the surroundings of the Dalma sanctuary will be identified for grooming as forest ambassadors.
"Around 150 boys and girls will be selected following the programme and then these boys and girls will be honoured with medals and certificates. They will play the role of ambassadors spreading awareness about forest and wildlife conservation among fellow villagers," said Dalma ranger, Mangal Kachap.
It is expected that close to 600 teenagers from the identified 85 villages will take part in the programme. The programme involves sporting and cultural events and knowledge session to make participants aware about the conservation issues.
Few among the participating teens will be selected on the basis of their acquired knowledge at the end of the programme for felicitation .
"Our objective is to build a team of young people who will pass on the message to the next generation about the ecological disadvantages of uprooting trees and killing forest animals," said the forest ranger.
According to department sources, the potential ambassadors will also be informed in great detail about the legal process of seeking monetary compensation from the government in case of casualties
in the forest area.
"Many times, innocent villagers who are unaware of the process of seeking financial compensation in the event of casualty , run from pillar to post for justice. Our aim is to ensure forest ambassadors come in handy for those villagers at the time of any eventuality," said a forest official in the Dhalbhum forest division.
The forest department has also planned to celebrate birthdays of elephants during the eventwhere the teenagers will cut the cake and share it with the elephant celebrating birthday.
"The entire exercise is aimed at conserving forest ensuring there's no man-animal conflict and developing a harmonious atmosphere in and around the forest," Kachap said.