GUWAHATI: A three-week long international course on applied environmental education has begun at the Indian Institute of Bank Management (IIBM) here.
The training programme, a first of its kind in the region, has been organised by North East’s leading nature conservation and research organisation ‘Aaranyak’ in association with Environment Education and Conservation Global (EECG) and Satpuda Foundation (India).
Speaking at the inauguration of the course, Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar stressed on the importance of education in nature conservation. He also briefly highlighted on the genesis of Aaranyak from a nature club to become one of the premier nature conservation organisation of the region. Mr. Edward J Mccrea, President of EECG and Chief Course Instructor also shared his experiences over the years as an instructor of the course.
The inaugural event of the course was attended by Aaranyak’s, Dr.Bibhuti P. Lahkar, Manas Landscape Administrator and Head of ERCD, Jayanta Kumar Sarma, Environment and Development Professional, Dr.Firoz Ahmed, Head of TRCD and HRCD (Aaranyak) and Dr.Jayanta Kumar Pathak, Manager, EECB Division.
The course, considered one of the most important for environmental educators and conservationists aims at demonstrating how environmental social marketing techniques can be integrated with overall education and communication strategies to produce effective and practical tools for solving environmental and conservation problems.
Twenty participants including conservation workers, forest officials and environment educators belonging to Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar and various states of India are participating in the course.
The course which is being held under the leadership of international environmental education expert Edward J Mccrea and Augusto Medina will also have practical and field sessions at Manas and Kaziranga National Parks in Assam.
The course, which has been organised for the first time in North East India is expected to ensure enhanced learning and deeper understanding of various environmental issues and use of suitable communication-education tools among the participants and will conclude on 17th of February.
The programme is a joint effort of Environment Education and Capacity Building Division (EECBD) of Aaranyak in association with the Manas Tiger Conservation Programme (MTCP). EECBD is the oldest division of Aaranyak which has been working to promote eco-literacy in north east India since the inception of Aaranyak.
It may also be mentioned that MTCP is a programme led by Aaranyak and being implemented in partnership with the Forest Department BTC, Wildlife Conservation Trust, Panthera and Awely, are actively working towards improvement of protection, conservation and community wellbeing in Manas National Park and its fringe areas.
