IBWL also decided to observe Wildlife Week from October 2 to 8 every year. A Wild Life Week is to create a general awakening in the common man for protection of wildlife and connect families and communities to nature. It is also celebrated to instill a conservation ethic, and inspire a life-long appreciation of wildlife and the environment.

To mark this year’s ‘World Wildlife Week’, over 100 students got together at Sanjay Van, a urban forest spread over 783 acres near Neela Hauz in south Delhi on 11 October 2012 . The event was organised under the banner of CLEAN-India Programme, an initiative of Development Alternatives. CLEAN-India is a youth-led initative and aims to mobilise different communities through environmentally conscious students.

The primary objective of this event was to inspire students to take up ‘Eco Volunteerism’ and be instrumental in safeguarding the urban biodiversity. It is imperative that students understand the fact that every decision we take that affects our biodiversity, not only affects our lives but also lives of people around. We need to become responsible residents of the planet.

The major activities planned for the day included a talk on Green Buildings, a visit to the Development Alternatives World Headquarters which is also conferred with the NDTV-Toyota Green Award 2010 in the category of Green Design. Other activities included ‘Nature Walk and Tree Talk’, clean-up drive, painting competition and planting medicinal plants.

Apart from enthusiastic students, also present was the Assistant Director DDA, Brijender Singh who appreciated the children’s interest and participation in the various activities. The children also got an opportunity to interact with veterans from the world of biodiversity. The experts encouraged the children to create awareness about urban biodiversity and its problems among their friends and family as well as to adopt green lifestyles for improving and protecting the environment.

Most students stated that they had a very good time in the forest. They were able to enrich their knowledge on forest biodiversity through the ‘Nature Walk and Tree Talk’ conducted by Air- Vice Marshall Vinod Rawat, Founder of Working with Nature. Other speakers at the event included Air-Vice Marshall Vishwa Mohan Tiwari, bird watcher and writer and founder of Bal Vikas Bharti, who spoke about the importance of birds and animals in our lives.

The creativity and imagination of students on the theme of biodiversity was best expressed through a painting competition. Planting of medicinal plants by students also served as a team building exercise for the students as well as highlighted the importance of medicinal plants. The event was a true success in establishing the message of eco-volunteering amongst students to safeguard urban biodiversity. q