Fauna with Flora are crucial for wildlife conservation!

Fauna with Flora are crucial for wildlife conservation

To raise awareness towards conservation of wildlife and prevent extinction of endangered species, the first week of October observed as the Wildlife Week. The week marked well across India and wildlife groups and organizations rededicate themselves to the cause of saving the wildlife.

This initiative was first started in the year 1952 with vision of saving the life of the Indian animals by taking some critical steps. It involves the planning to save animal extinction of any specie. The Indian Government has established an Indian Board of Wild Life which works to improve the awareness as well as the consciousness of the Indian people towards the wildlife preservation.

India indeed has a very rich flora and fauna. According to estimates there are over 500 species of mammals, 200 plus species of birds and about 30,000 species of insects. In addition there are hundreds of species of fish and reptiles. To protect wild life, India setup 66 National Parks, 333 wild life sanctuaries and 35 zoological gardens in the country.

While conservation of fauna i.e our wildlife is of vital importance, attention should also be simultaneously laid on conservation education of the flora aspect of the wild and making the Van-Gujjara or any other similar forest nomads existing anywhere in India as brigade in this drive to work towards a common goal with the forest departments across the country on lines to the aforesaid mandate laid out by the government. All the three co-exists. Until there is rich flora-fauna balance and involvement of the forest nomads along with the forest department it will be hard to conserve the fauna the big way. Van Gujjars are pastoral nomads found in the Himalayan region and Uttarakhand. No one knows forests, the wildlife and the animal’s habitat better than these nomads. If they groomed as confident lot of our foresters, the wildlife conservation mission becomes all that earlier.

Indian flora has a great range of varieties from the coniferous to the ever green, from scrubs to deciduous forests and thick tropical jungles to cool temperate woods. The tropical forests in east are in contrast to the pine and coniferous woodland of the western Himalayas. The Himalayan foothills are dense with deciduous trees and shrubs, bamboos, fern and grass. The Gangetic plain, the Deccan plateau of volcanic ancestry, the dense luxuriant forests of the Western Ghats - all provide fascinating variations in habitat.

Flora conservation therefore retains natural habitat for the wild animals which in turn helps save their extinction. This is very important in the overall wildlife awareness and conservation drive.

While the Forest Department holds various activities for raising public awareness, conservation education is also very important. A still greater emphasis is must on more activities during this week through the environmentalists, activists, educators towards wildlife conservation involving school children. A rightly sown seed gets the best crop. Greater number of children involvement in mission wildlife conservation is important.

Although addressing the issue is an ongoing exercise, however at least during this weeklong programme extensive efforts should go in for something new with fun and meaningful activities for the children. Parents should also help kids to understand that nature is a beautiful God gift.

An active involvement of children in planting tree during the Wild Life Week campaign and similar occasions is also important. Kids can even be taught about wild life through posters, cards or discussion, debates to sensitize them towards importance of wildlife and environment.

This year the Wildlife Conservation Weeks holds a greater importance for Uttarakhand as one of its six national parks- the Gangotri National Park completes 25 years of its creation this year.

As our Prime Minister stresses, the success of any mission rests on involvement of one and all. The wildlife conservation mission too can reap unimaginable results if inclusive involvement of all is there.