SHILLONG, June 6: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Tuesday inaugurated the Nature Interpretation Centre at Ka Phan Nonglait Park, which will showcase and document the rich flora and fauna of Meghalaya.
This first-of-its-kind centre in the state has been constructed by Khasi Hills Wildlife Division of Wildlife wing of Forests and Environment department under CAMPA Scheme of 2021-22 at a cost of Rs 30 lakh.
The centre has informative panels, diorama/landscape scene, interactive bird call panel, 3D map of Meghalaya showing Reserve Forests and Protected areas, information kiosk, TV room for viewing documentaries on biodiversity of Meghalaya and theme-wise display of animal articles.
The Forest and Environment department has come up with the intervention with the aim to impart environmental education among the people and to educate them on the environment and its associated problems.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, a senior official said that environmental education has certain goals such as creation of awareness about ecology, besides providing every person with opportunities to acquire the knowledge, and to create new patterns of behaviour of individuals, groups, and society as a whole towards the environment.
“Nature interpretation is an educational activity that imparts knowledge about ecological processes using tangible objects and first-hand experience to create responsible actions. Such centres attempt to convey cultural and natural heritage values, deter negative impacts, and support conservation initiatives of the department,” the official said.
Giving an insight about the facilities of the centre, he said that the informative panels have been kept in three different languages —English, Khasi and Garos, while adding that they would want to ensure that nobody from the state is deprived of valuable information due to language barrier.
According to the official, the research suggests that such a centre creates positive attitude among people, mostly teenagers, towards the environment. It helps to bring responsible behaviour among people.
He said that children can enjoy bird call panels and it will increase their interest in bird watching.
“Many schoolchildren and even adults don’t know specific names of animals or birds. The names in English and local languages have been displayed near images of animals/birds and near animal/bird figures, which will certainly increase the knowledge of about flora and fauna of our state,” the senior official said.
On the other hand, he informed that the Phan Nonglait Park has been visited by more than 1.70 lakh visitors in the last year (2022-2023).
He said the park has provided an opportunity to the department to showcase the bio-diversity and impart environmental education to the tourists.
