A
PROFILE OF COMMITMENT
WILDLIFE AWARE NATURE CLUB
Wildlife Aware Nature Club,
WANC - as it is popularly known, was
established in 1990 by a few young nature lovers. The first organization to be
formed in Tumkur district for the cause of nature and wildlife conservation,
WANC today is considered as the most active and dedicated environmental NGO in
this region.
A
total of 102 people comprise the membership of WANC, spread out in every corner
of Tumkur district, some even across Karnataka. Of these, about 20 members are
very active and hence form the core. Members are drawn from various professions
– Business men, Doctors, Teachers, Para- Medics, Clerks, Students, House
wives, cutting across various religions, languages etc., to work for the noble
cause of protecting MOTHER EARTH.
ACTIVITIES OF WANC
* Voicing concern over environmental degradation and publicizing threats to wildlife and their habitats
*
HELPING CREATE NATURE AWARENESS : WANC
has been constantly making people think about the ever increasing abuse of
nature. Members of the club regularly write for local vernacular dailies,
national newspapers, and wildlife magazines/journals. Also WANC raises many
issues through its quarterly newsletter ‘The Naturalist’
*
Supplying information to and working close with the forest department and other
conservation agencies, with focus on Tumkur district.
*
NATURE CAMPS : WANC regularly organises nature
camps for school students and others in different parts of Karnataka state.
Camps have been organised in various protected areas of Karnataka notably
Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Nagarhole National Park, Bhadra Tiger Reserve and
Mydanahalli proposed Blackbuck Sanctuary.
*
TREKS TO TROPICAL FORESTS : WANC organises
eco-friendly trekking programmes in various tropical forests of Karnataka like
the rainforests along the Western Ghats. Various activities in these treks for
adventure loving youth include bird watching, butterfly identification, wildlife
photography, and most importantly enjoying the scenic splendor of vast stretches
of the forests, without any sort of harmful interference.
*
TALKS & SLIDE SHOWS : Regular talks and
slideshows by prominent wildlifers are organised by WANC to gain more knowledge
about the bio-diversity in which we are living.
*
OUTINGS : Wildlife outings are organised
every weekend in the Devarayana Durga State Forest and other forests and
wetlands of Tumkur District.
*
FIELD TRIPS : Restricted to members of WANC,
field trips are organised to various national parks and wildlife sanctuaries of
south India. This is an excellent platform for members to share their knowledge,
experiences, feel one with nature and to get inspired to do
more for this noble cause.
*
REHABILITATION OF INJURED WILDLIFE : WANC has been involved
in rehabilitating injured wildlife since inception. Wildlife which are handed
over to WANC by the public are taken care so that they can be rehabilitated in
the wild. A veterinary doctor
regularly attends the injured wildlife.
*
RELOCATION OF SNAKES : Many members of WANC are
very well experienced in catching snakes, both poisonous and non poisonous,
which happen to stray in to houses of Tumkur city. These snakes are then
released in to the nearby Devarayana Durga state forest, unharmed. All this is
done free of cost.
*
SNAKE SHOWS : Live snakes shows and
illustrated slide shows on snakes are held by WANC members where people are
educated about snakes, the differences between poisonous and non poisonous ones
and if interested on how to handle them in emergency. Medical doctors & para
medics from WANC educate these people about the first aid during the unfortunate
circumstances of snakebite.
*
CHECKLISTS : - WANC has been recording and
constantly updating the checklists of flora and fauna of important forests and
wetlands of Tumkur district. At present there are about 20 checklists maintained
by WANC.
*
WILDLIFE CENSUS : Members regularly take part in
wildlife census in association with the forest department. So far members have
attended census programmes in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and
recently Uttar Pradesh.
*
RESOURCE PERSONS : Members regularly participate in
various eco-awareness programmes as resource persons. Members visit different
parts of south India to give illustrated slide shows on wildlife conservation.
*
AFFORESTATION PROGRAMMES : Over the years, WANC has
involved itself in various afforestation programmes in deforested areas with the
help of rural community and students.
*
ECHO- 2000 : This is an annual event started
by WANC in 1991. It is a competition event where many schools of Tumkur city
present various dramas & dances with their focus on the status of
environment in the year 2000 AD
* BIRD COUNTS : WANC
since the beginning has been participating in
Dr. Salim Ali Bird count (coordinated annually by Bombay Natural History
Society BNHS) and World Bird Watch, coordinated every year by Birdlife
International ( United Kingdom)
*
REPRESENTATIONS TO MEETS : WANC has been represented at
various international & national seminars to exchange views on conservation
issues.
*
TIGER LINK :
WANC is a part of Tiger Link, a global linkage of people and
organizations to save the tiger.
*
REGULAR PARTICIPANT OF CLEAN UP THE WORLD
* PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION PROJECTS
·
Asian Water fowl Census (AWC)
coordinated by Malaysia based Wetland International, since 1991.
·
World Bird Watch, coordinated by
Birdlife International (U.K) since 1993.
·
Clean Up the world an UNEP
project.
WANC
has initiated wildlife surveys of many important areas in Tumkur district to
help their better management. The Club has brought out detailed and colourful
project/survey reports regarding the following :
·
Devarayana Durga State Forest
1993 ( in association with Merlin Nature Club, Bangalore )
·
Mydenahalli proposed Blackbuck
sanctuary, 1997 ( Co-authored by Dr. Uday Veer Singh. IFS, Deputy Conservator of
Forests )
·
A senior member of the club Dr.
Ameen Ahmed has conducted a survey on the birds and butterflies of Bandipur
National Park along with Mr. K. Yekanthappa IFS, Field Director, Bandipur
Project Tiger, in 1998-99
Many of
the members have received honours for their selfless work in the field of
Wildlife and Nature Conservation.
·
Two senior members Mr. T V N
Murthy and Dr. Ameen Ahmed were honoured by the Karnataka Forest Department,
Tumkur Division, on the occasion of world Environmental day 1997 “ for
services towards nature conservation and creating public awareness about
wildlife”
·
Ameen Ahmed, an avid bird watcher
and an excellent writer shared the 1997 Newsletter for bird watchers (NLBW)
Award for his article ‘Birds on treks around Nainital’ , Uttar
Pradesh. (NLBW, Vol 37, No:3, May-June 1997)
·
Many noted conservationists and
forest officials have commended the work of WANC.
ACHIEVEMENTS :
Since its
inception in 1990
· Conducted over 40 nature Camps
· Members have given over 500 talks, slide shows on conservation.
· Over 2000 snakes rehabilitated from residential areas into forests of Tumkur District.
· Discovered Kaggaladu Heronry in 1999, the 2nd largest nesting colony of Painted Storks in Karnataka and the only mixed heronry of Painted Storks & Grey Herons in South India.
· First nature club in Karnataka to organise a state level Nature Clubs, meet in 1991.
· Conducted a nature photographic workshop in 1993, by involving some of India’s best known wildlife photographers.
PUBLICATIONS
A number of stickers with conservation message like ‘ Save Water’, Let’s think Green etc., have been published. Posters depicting the beauty, importance and uniqueness of the Blackbuck have been published. WANC publishes its quarterly newsletter “ The Naturalist”. Also a large variety of other literature on conservation has been published.
CLUB STRUCTURE
The club is led by a Chairman actively assisted by the Advisor. There is a Secretary/ Public Relation Officer, Treasurer and Chairman of the Education wing ( The highest decision making body of WANC). All the posts except one of Honorary Club Advisor, which is permanent, are for a period of one year.
CONTACT ADDRESS OF SOME SINIOR MEMBERS:
· T V N Murthy tvnmurthy@vsnl.com
· Dr Mahesh.G.S
· Dr Ameen Ahmed savewildlife_ameenindia@yahoo.com
· Guruprasad T V guru_tumkur@hotmail.com
WANC PLEDGE
We pledge to -
-
respect Nature
-
support Conservation activities
-
learn all we can about Nature and
-
share our knowledge of nature with
others.