During the first 19 days of December I had got to participate in the "Wildlife Research and conservation Training". This training was organized by an organization named "Friends of Nature". Friends of nature (FON) are a youth lead non-governmental, non-profit organization established in 2005 which works under the theme:-

1)     Biodiversity Conservation

2)     Water resource management

3)     Education and capacity building

4)     Climate change adaptation and mitigation

5)      Resource management and Livelihood promotion

6)      Environmental Planning

Under the above themes it launches differentprograms,conductstrainings and researches .Also it runs awareness campaigns on environment as well as nature conservation. During our training we got to visit Rastriya Primary School,Chaughara,Chitwan.FON is currently running Green School Project in Rastriya Primary school,Chaughara and Rastriya Secondary School,Swamitar(model school) of Korak VDC Chitwan.This place is rich in biodiversity including diverse mammal , birds, herpetofauna , insects etc.during our observation of two day's we were able to record 100 number of bird species and recent research on butterfly count shows that there are more than 120 butterfly species. Most of the residents in Korak VDC belong to indigenous group and they are mainly Chepang and Tamang whose livelihood is directly dependent on forest resources, hence resource exploitation is higher in this area which may be threat to its biodiversity. The project aims to develop sustainable rural communities in harmony with nature. They have established Eco-clubs in those schools. The students are involved in plantation, bird and butterfly watching, clean-up, herping etc regularly along with different extra-curricular activities like essay and art competition.

   During our visit to school we interacted with the students there about the importance of nature conservation. Also this area has dominant number of Chiuri (Bassia butyracea) trees where bat shelter hence we also shared them information about bat and its need of conservation.It was really great feeling talking with them,living on a remote area they didnt have any idea about the advancements of the cities but there dreams were wide.Hope that those young little lives will be a bridge for nature conservation in coming days.

Reference:- http://www.fonnepal.org/