'NATURALLY YOURS'
Photo Courtesy: Kopal Khanna, St. Stephen's College, Delhi
Saturday 28 April 2012
EDITORIAL
“And this, our life, exempt
from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons
in stones, and good in everything.”
- William Shakespeare
- William Shakespeare
Dear friends,
Very soon, we would not even be
in a position to appreciate the value of the quotation. Trapped in a concrete
jungle, we would only muse about what was, but by then, it would be too late to
reverse the process.
Nature has always been an
elixir to mankind, presenting itself to be a safe refuge, a breathing space
since time immemorial. But today, it stands on the verge of destruction with
its wonderful treasure trove of vegetation and wildlife on the brink of extinction.
Men had turned a deaf ear to their silent scream, mindlessly exploiting its
resources since ages; ungrateful and remorseless for his actions, waking up
only when it threatened their own survival, in the face of rising sea level,
global warming and water shortages.
It is high time we pay attention
to problems threatening the survival of the earth, and even though erasing the
harm already done is impossible, we can do our bit to prevent it from further
damage. The widespread felling of trees for paper production has motivated us into adopting this 'green' approach towards our journal. We are much obliged to all the
people who have helped put the journal together by contributing their valuable
thoughts and insights.
We hereby present our online journal-‘NATURALLY YOURS’, a humble attempt to spread awareness among people
and to show that, “YES, WE CARE”!!
Debdutta Sanyal Avnee Dhamija
Editor Editor-in-Chief
PRESIDENT’S
NOTE :
Another exemplary year
for the Wildlife Society has reached its closure. Only for bigger and better
things to follow!
This year saw a marked shift in the focus of the society.
While our endeavour of ‘Saving Life from Lifestyles’ is perpetual, activities
undertaken this year were primarily aimed at making positive impact on everyday
life- something as thoughtful as making gift bags from waste paper, for
instance.
Some highlights of this years society
calendar include, first of its kind Environment Week, trip to Ranathambhore
Tiger Reserve, workshop on gift bag making on campus, our annual fest,
Prakriti- which saw massive participation from students and various NGOs alike,
and continuing last year’s trend, here is a copy of our journal for you.
On a concluding note, I would heartily like
to thank the Second Year students for their hard work and sorry for the times I
shouted at you! And obviously the overenthusiastic First Year members, you know
how we couldn’t have done anything without you. And finally, thank you Dr.
Manjula Singh for your invaluable support for all our ventures.
It was a very fruitful year
for the society and I hope that this trend continues in the years to follow as
well. Here’s wishing Good Luck to everyone!!
- Shruti Sharma
President,
The Wildlife
Society.
St. Stephen's College
THE STAFF ADVISOR'S MESSAGE
THE STAFF ADVISOR’S MESSAGE :
Another event packed
year of activities to promote appreciation for nature, awareness of our
environment and the impact of human activities on it. Wildlife Society members, as always,
independently and enthusiastically planned and organized several fun-filled
events this year towards this aim despite their busy academic schedules. I want to thank the entire executive council
as well as other society members for their hard work in this endeavour.
There is a lot more to do
to make a positive difference and I hope this coming year will help us find a
solution to the leaf burning problem.
A vote of thanks also to
the editorial team for this “Naturally Yours” journal that I hope you find interesting
and informative– Enjoy!
Dr.
Manjula Singh
Staff Advisor
The Wildlife Society
St. Stephen's College
THE YEAR 2011-2012
Nature
Walk: The year started with a Nature Walk to
the Kamla Nehru Ridge on the 6th of August, 2011.Its aim was to
spread awareness among junior members about their beautiful surrounding and its
rich heritage.
Environment
Week: This year ‘The Environment Week’ is
something new that we came up with. We celebrated the entire 1st
week of September as the Environment Week which included a myriad of events
throughout seven days.
1)
Talk on Wildlife Photography: It
was a talk by Mr.Anish Andheria, Director of Sanctuary Asia and Wildlife
Conservation Trust.
2)
Treasure Hunt: It was based on the topic of Tiger Conservation.
3)
Nature Walk: To Asola Bhatti Mines with the people from Sanctuary Asia.
4)
Workshop: There was a Workshop by Mr.Rohit Prakash, founder of i-dream, an NGO,
on ‘Waste Management’.
5)
Photography Competition: Throughout the Week we had a Photography Competition
on the theme ‘Nature at its Best’.
Inventory
of Trees on Campus:
In the months of September and October, we did an Inventory List of Trees on Campus.
We found out the Botanical, family and common name of all tree on campus.
Case
Study Competition:
On the 19th of October we had a Case study competition on Cities for
Forests which also was with the motive of creating awareness among the youth.
Nature Walk:
We organized another Nature Walk to Kamla Nehru Ridge on the 20th of
October in collaboration with the WWF’s Cities for Forests Campaign.
Society
Trip: The trip to Ranathambhor National Park
Paper
Bag Making:
an unique initiative was taken to create awareness and make youngsters more
environment friendly.
Prakriti:
The much awaited annual fest, comprising of an array of events along with NGOs
adorning our lawns with their stalls of eco-friendly products and a photography
exhibition on the themes-‘Man vs. Wild’, ‘Nature’s Miracle’ and ‘Jewels of the
Wild.’
Day 1-
Began with the Inauguration Ceremony, moved on to Student Paper Presentations
and ended with the fun filled event of ‘Pictionary.’
Day 2-
Had a lot in store, ranging from Treasure Hunt, Debate, the Terra Green Quiz,
to Crossword and Wealth from Waste.
Journal:
Last, but not the least, the year would come to close with the publication of
our annual journal- ‘Naturally Yours’.
APARNA UPADHYAY
Secretary,
The
Wildlife Society
St. Stephen's College, Delhi
CALL OF THE WILD
CALL OF THE WILD - A TRIP TO
RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK
The fleeting glimpse of a tiger, the relentless
chirping of birds- such musical sounds and magical sights transported us to
another world as we set foot into the Ranthambore National Park. It was 26th
January when a group of excited students from our college and the Wildlife
Society, headed by Professor Shweta Jain, set off in the spirit of adventure to
this national park in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan. Though the morning
safaris around the park proved to be chillingly cold, a pleasant weather aided
our exploration for the rest of the day. The guide augmented the horizon of our
experience through many interesting and even minute details about the national
park. We learnt that it covered an area of approximately 392 sq. kilometers. It
was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1957 and in 1974, it acquired the
protection of ‘Project Tiger’. Its identity was established as a national park
in 1981. It is known for its tiger population and is supposed to harbour 36
tigers. Free from the unlicensed presence of vehicles and people, the tigers
were likely to be spotted during the early hours of the day. The presence of
almost 272 species of birds have been documented; it is also the home of some
other wild animals like the leopard, nilgai, dhole, wild boar, sambar, hyena,
sloth bear and chital. A wide variety of
trees, plants and reptiles adorn the park further-it is the site for one of the
largest banyan trees in India
- Diksha Kumar
St. Stephen's College, Delhi
Photo Courtesy: Arnav Behera
SNAPS OF THE WILD
Photo Courtesy: Shrey Agarwal, Indian Institute of Technology,
Photo Courtesy: Kopal Khanna, St. Stephen’s College,
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