Kaziranga (Assam), March 6: Two members of the esteemed David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) based in UK are in Assam taking stock of the Foundation’s footprints in Brahmaputra Valley region of Assam in respect of its collaborative nature conservation initiative with Aaranyak, a top-bracket biodiversity conservation and research organisation headquartered in Guwahati and with activities spread across the Northeast India and West Bengal in India.
Emily Lamb, granddaughter of late David Shepherd accompanied by Matt Amstrong, a volunteer in the DSWF, have also attended two programmes of ‘Rhino Goes to School’, a DSWF-supported initiative of Aaranyak aimed at creating rhino conservation awareness among school children in the state especially those residing in the vicinity of rhino protection areas in Assam.
They attended Rhino Goes to School programme at Pubthoria High School near Kaziranga National Park on March 5 and another programme at Gulung High School near Kamargaon under Bokakhat Sub-Division near the rhino abode in Kaziranga. They attended those programmes in company of the Secretary General and CEO of Aaranyak, Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar.
These programmes were anchored by Arif Hussain, Manager of Rhino Research and Conservation Division (RRCD) of Aaranyak while Sanjib Bezbaruah of Aaranyak coordinated the programmes.
A conservation worker and senior journalist Swapan Nath took lead in conducting the quiz for school students in both the programmes.
The conservationist from the DSWF were overwhelmed by the lively interaction with school children over the precious one-horned Indian rhinoceros. One of them, Emily Lamb who is an expert in art and drawing, took the lead in drawing sketches of the one-horned rhinos to encourage the participating school children in these programmes.
The DSWF has remained a constant source of support and inspiration over the years for Aaranyak, a biodiversity conservation and research organisation based in Assam. The association has crossed 25 years during which Aaranyak has grown from strength to strength and carved a niche for itself in the field of conservation of biodiversity.
