Coimbatore : For the 18-year-old A. Nishanth from the Amrit Centre for Special Needs in Coimbatore, city life is full of pollution caused by vehicles. “A day out into the wild is all that is needed to refresh us,” he says.
Coimbatore : For the 18-year-old A. Nishanth from the Amrit Centre for Special Needs in Coimbatore, city life is full of pollution caused by vehicles. “A day out into the wild is all that is needed to refresh us,” he says.
Nishanth was one of the 26 kids with special needs who were taken on an Eco Trail in the Kallar Horticulture Farm on Friday. Organised by World Wide Fund for Nature, India, the Eco Trail is done to educate kids on the importance of trees, birds and butterflies.
kids of age groups between seven and 18 were taught the basics about bird identification and the importance of birds. They were also taught about butterflies, trees and how they contribute to the environment.
Talking about the choice of birds and butterflies, S. Saravanan, Coordinator of Environment Education by WWF said that since birds and butterflies are bio-indicators, it was important for the kids to learn about them.
“The Kallar area has a good tract of riverine forests and the farm hosts a variety of birds and butterflies. Hence, this would be an apt location for children to begin learning about the environment and seeing birds and butterflies would excite them,” he told the Simplicity.
The teachers who accompanied the children also felt that the kids would take along with them wonderful memories and knowledge from the trip.
“Usually kids with special needs are confined to their houses or schools. This directly has an impact on the way they behave with others and they tend to become violent. Hence, it is important that they are taken out to socialise with others and trips like these would be an extra dose of goodness to their lives,” said V. Vallirani, one of the teachers in the school.
V. Thilakavathy, another teacher said that taking the children out to natural places at such a young age would help regulate their social skills.
The students also seemed very excited with the trip which was evident from the words of Deepak, who wished “to come back to the same place again and again”.
The children were guided on the Eco Trail by Saravanan and N. Raveendran from Iragukal, Trust for Nature Conservation.
According to Saravanan, around 500 students have undergone the Eco Trail organised by WWF in Kallar, including students from schools under the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation.
“Environment education largely becomes a theoretical process in classrooms these days, whereas it should actually be taught outside the four walls. It is important that students know with whom they share the world with. Programmes like these help the kids,” Saravanan said.
Apart from Eco Trail, WWF also organises other activities like creating awareness on sustainable living to school children, Wild Wisdom Quiz and teaching through digital resource centres.