24th National Wildlife Week Celebration 2076 Submitted to: Submitted by: Institute of Forestry, Pokhara Campus, Wildlife Week Celebration Committee Pokhara 2076 1 2 Acknowledgement: We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who helped us making this event a grand success. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the green groups and Institute of Forestry for their valuable support and cooperation. We are very thankful to Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation – Annapurna Conservation Area (DNPWC-ACA) Liaison Office, National Trust for Nature Conservation- Annapurna Conservation Area Project (NTNC- ACAP), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal- Hariyoban Program, Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), Third Pole Conservancy, Nepalese Ornithological Union (NOU) , Friends of Nature (FON)- Nepal, Pokhara Bird Society (PBS), Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge- Pokhara, BaBa Foundation, Division Forest Office (DFO) Kaski, Pokhara Metropolitian City, Kaski, Pokhara Metropolitian City- Ward no: 5, Pokhara Metropolitian City- Ward no: 13, Pokhara Metropolitian City- Ward no: 15, Forest and Environment Research Organization (FERO)- Bhaktapur, Free Student Union – Institute of Forestry (FSU- IOF) Pokhara, Dharmasthali Model School- Parsang, and Mr. Hemanta Dhakal for providing us financial support to celebrate the 23rd National Wildlife Week. We are very much appreciative to Prof. Dr. Krishna Raj Tiwari, Dean- IOF, Mr. Prem Narayan Khanal (Campus Chief, IOF Pokhara), Mr. Rishi Baral (Conservation officer NTNC-ACAP), Mr. Rishi Ram Dhakal (Conservation Officer- ACAP-Liaison Office) and Mr. Dayaram Pandey (Ranger- ACAP-Liaison Office), Mrs. Sudha Dhungana (Ranger-ACAP-Liaison Office), Mr. Shiva Devkota (ACAP- Lwang), Mr. Rajendra Gurung (Bird Conservation Nepal), Mr. Rupendra Ghale and Mr. Surya Adhikari from WWF Hariyoban, Mr Ganga Ram Regmi (Founder and Executive Director at Third Pole Conservancy), Mr. Hathan Chauddhary (Nepalese Ornithological Union), Mr. Raju Acharya (Founder and Executive Director FON- Nepal), Mr. Dilip Shrestha (BaBa Foundation), Mr. Mannshant Ghimire, Mr. Hemanta Dhakal (Pokhara Bird Society), Mr. Bishal Aryal (President- FSU), Gajendra Shrestha (Forest and Environment Research Organization), Mr. Kedarnath Baral (Principal- Dharmasthali Basic School), Mr. Ramji Gautam (Zoological Department- P.N. Campus), Mr. Krishna Mani Baral, Mr. Bhumi Prakash Chaudary Tharu (Trainer), Ms. Shristee Panthi (Trainer) and Mr. Bhuwan Singh Bista (IOF, Pokhara). Lastly, we are very grateful to Nepal Police for providing us the necessary security during our street performances, the students from Bhurjung Khola and Ghachowk, staffs of IOF, Pokhara and all the volunteer students for their tireless efforts and dedication to make this program a success. Photo Credits: Aananda Baral, Mukesh Shrestha, Vidyaman Thapa, Ambika Regmi, Pratyush Dhungana, Shirish Dangi, Sangita Gautam. 3 Contents: Acknowledgement:…………………………………………………………………………..3 1. Introduction:……………………………………………………………………………..5 2. Objectives:………………………………………………………………………………..6 3. Wildlife Week Celebration District:……………………………………………………6 4. Event Promotion:………………………………………………………………………..7 5. Activities 5.1 Flash Mob and Rally:……………………………………………………………….8 5.2 Butterfly museum visit, Flash mob ,Drawing and Instant Writing Competition 5.2.1 Butterfly museum visit and Flash Mob:…………………………………..10 5.2.2 Drawing and Instant Writing Competition:………………………………11 5.3 Photography workshop and School Teaching Program 5.3.1 Photography workshop:……………………………………………………12 5.3.2 School teaching program at Bhujrung Khola:……………………………12 5.4 Butterfly Monitoring and Bat cave visit 5.4.1 Butterfly Monitoring:………………………………………………………14 5.4.2 Bat cave visit:………………………………………………………………..14 5.5 Nature Hike and School Visit 5.5.1 Nature Hike:………………………………………………………………...15 5.5.2 School Visit:…………………………………………………………………16 5.6 Sanitation, Dustbin Distribution and School Teaching Program 5.6.1 Sanitation and Dustbin Distribution:……………………………………...16 5.6.2 School teaching at Ghachowk:…………………………………………….17 5.7 Wildlife talks, Prize distribution and Closing ceremony………………………...18 6. Results:…………………………………………………………………………………..19 6.1 Demographic features of the participants:………………………………………..20 7. Internet Links of Wildlife Week- 2076:……………………………………………….21 References:……………………………………………………………………………...21 Photo Plates:…………………………………………………………………………….22 4 1. Introduction and Background Nepal is situated at the heart of the Himalayan belt and at a unique juncture of two of the world‟s most important bio-geographic regions. Altitudinal variation over a short distance ranges from 60 m above sea-level to 8,848 m a top Sagarmatha, the highest point on Earth. This unique setting has bestowed Nepal with rich biodiversity, yet Nepal is also diverse in its ethnicity, culture and religion, giving it one of the most unique social settings in the region (Jnwali et al., 2011). The country is glorified being the home for different spectacular animals such as Rhino, Tiger Elephants, Snow leopards and many other endangered species. It is blessed with an ample richness in ecosystems such as forests, wetlands and grasslands which are recognized as sites of global importance (Bhuju et al, 2007). These ecosystems or habitats support a wide variety of living beings which includes 212 species of mammals (Amin et al, 2018), 888 species of birds (BCN, 2018), 653 species of butterflies, 230 species of fish, 53 species of amphibians, 137 species of reptiles, 6973 species of flowering plants (DNPWC, 2012). These species integrate and interact with their habitat and form a complex amalgamation of biosphere elements. Over the past few years Nepal has experienced enormous challenges in conserving the country‟s biodiversity, from the mountains to the Terai. Globally significant wildlife species such as Bengal tiger, greater one- horned rhinoceros, Asian elephant, gharial, Gangetic river dolphin and giant hornbill in Terai and snow leopard, red panda and musk deer and many others in the mountains are under threat. Past examples after the initiation of Community Forestry in Nepal suggests us that the active participation of the community in conservation activities can significantly facilitate the purpose and can be the best tool to curb the threats that wild animals face (HMGN, 2002). To ensure the participation of local people in conservation activities, a sense of responsibility and belongingness needs to be put into them through different methods and tools. Similarly, the next generations of conservationists need to know and appreciate the value of wildlife and importance of their conservation. Hence, the green groups of Institute of Forestry, Pokhara have decided to celebrate the National wildlife week which is celebrated every year on the first week of Baisakh nationally. We have designed a series of programs for each day of the week which will act as a catalytic role in convincing people to enrich their understanding of wildlife conservation. This wildlife week celebration package is thus proposed here to mark the national celebration. Photo: Official Banner Design for 24th Wildlife Week Celebration in Pokhara. 5 2. Objectives The major objective of this week long celebration is to familiarize and sensitize the people and all the stakeholders about the value and importance of wildlife conservation and ensure people‟s participation in future wildlife conservation activities. The specific objectives are as follows: I. To conduct awareness rally, flash mobs in different parts of Pokhara city. II. To conduct school & community teachings in different places of ACAP region as per feasibility. III. To aware people about the illegal hunting and trade of wildlife. IV. To involve the local communities in environmental conservation activities. V. To create recreational bird, butterfly and bat survey at Dovilla, Bat cave and Institute of Forestry respectively. VI. To sensitize the future aspiring generation of conservationists towards wildlife conservation. VII. To create temporary museum with the art-crafts using recyclable materials. 3. Wildlife Week Celebration District Photo: Wildlife Week 2076 Celebration Area 6 4. Event Promotion Photos: Online news about wildlife week celebration in Pokhara (Top Left), News about our activities performed on 1st day and future activities (Top right), Facebook group for Wildlife Week 2076 (bottom left), Schedule of Wildlife Week (Bottom right). 7 5. Activities jGohGt' ;+/If0fsf] nflu ;xsfo 24th National Wildlife Week-2076 with the theme of “ ” was celebrated from Baisakh 1st to 7th 2076 with joint efforts of Institute of Forestry (IOF)- Pokhara Campus and Green groups of Institute of Forestry (IOF) with many other supportive organizations. 5.1 Flash Mob and Rally The wildlife week was formally inaugurated at the conference hall of Dean office, IOF on the chairmanship of Mr. Milan Baral (Coordinator of Wildlife Week Celebration Committee- 2076) with the chief guest Dr. Jit Narayan Shah (Assistant Dean of IOF) and special guest Mr. Prem Narayan Khanal (Campus chief of IOF, Pokhara) by watering the plant. Similarly, Mr. Rishi Baral (Conservation officer, NTNC-ACAP, HQ), Mrs. Sudha Dhungana (Ranger, ACAP liaison office) and Mr. Arun Parajuli (AFO, Dang) were the guest of the opening ceremony. The program was conducted by Mr. Bibek Belbase and the welcome speech was delivered by Ms. Bijaya Kafle. The stage was beautifully decorated with the mobile wildlife museum which includes the paintings , stone paintings, arts and crafts