Nature Education Program, Pakke Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh

Nature Conservation Foundation has been carrying out research and conservation activities since 2003 in and around the Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR), an extraordinarily rich tiger reserve in Arunachal Pradesh that is also a part of the Indo-Burma global biodiversity hotspot.

We believe that children are the future guardians of these forests and it is important that they get to experience the forests and wildlife in and around Pakke through a planned year-round curriculum.

Studies have shown that deforestation and loss of wildlife causes an increase in infectious diseases and this COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of our dysfunctional relationship with nature.

In 2017, we began our formal Nature Education Program in villages around PTR. The main highlight of this program is the annual Nature Education Camps inside the Pakke Tiger Reserve done in partnership with Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department

These camps and year-round activities are free of cost for the schools. The Forest Department provides some logistical support and forest guards for the safety of kids during the camps. We cover the travel, food, equipment and honorarium for the team.

This year, due to the unprecedented crisis we have been unable to raise enough funds for these camps.Through this campaign our target is to raise INR 535000 by the end of September 2020.  

We have set up Pakke Nature clubs with seven schools (5 government, 2 private) in Seijosa. Every year, we conduct three-day and one-day camps in November-December for students (Class 5-9) from these schools. This is done in partnership with the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department.

We have also held two training workshops for our field staff, teachers of the seven schools, field staff of the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department (serving in Pakke) as well as local youth to equip them to understand the importance of nature education and to carry out nature education activities for students/ other members of the community.

We have a team of ~10-12 people who help us run the 3 different modules during the camps. These modules were designed by Dr. Pranav Trivedi, who conducted these camps (for the first three years) as well as the two training workshops. Through these camps we

 (1) Activate/sharpen sensory perception through specific and focused activities for each sense

(2) Demonstrate through activities important ecological concepts of energy flow and cycling of materials.

(3) Provide time for solitude, reflection and sharing for processing all of the above.

The objective of these nature camps is to immerse the local children in nature and help develop a sense of pride and connectedness with their natural heritage. This is a long-term program where we aim to engage with the same students, more than once and in different ways to gradually strengthen their bond with the natural world rather than making it a one-time experience. This also helps us better evaluate the impact of the program and create stewardship for conservation of Pakke and its rich biodiversity with which the local community has strong cultural and ecological connections.

Since 2017, we have engaged with a total of 500 students from 7 schools (5 government, 2 private) in Seijosa from class 5-9 through these camps and many more through yearly activities like nursery visit, bird walks, nature art sessions, and other events on important days (World Environment day, Wildlife Week, or the Pakke Paga Hornbill Festival).

This programme is a long-term intervention that may well go beyond 10 years and strengthen nature conservation with the support of local community.