Close to nature

KOCHI: Environmental activists in the city have been organising a number of activities to mark the Wildlife Week, which falls between October 2 to 8. Joining the initiative to create awareness for preserving the flora and fauna, Sahyadri Natural History Society, an NGO in the city, also observed the Wildlife Week, marking its end in an elaborate way.

The celebrations which were held at Adiyodi hall kickstarted with a day-long wildlife photography exhibition at the venue. Fifty photographs featured themes and subjects related to wildlife and nature. Jayakumari, president of Sahyadri Natural History Society, “We had invited entries for a photography competition in June. We exhibited the selected ones on Sunday. Since all of them were exceptionally good, many of the entries were given prizes.”

The first prize for the photography contest was bagged by Sabari Janaki while the second prize was shared by Ratheesh Karthikeyan and P J Shibin Unni. Pradeep Premkumar Pai and C Santhosh earned the third place. A quiz was also held for High School students. The winners were given certificates, medals and free environment-related books.

One of the highlights of the day was the launch of an Environment Library by the NGO, an initiative which is open not only for members, but also others. “This won’t function like a normal registered library. Currently, the library has 400 books on general topics which are part of our collection. Those interested, children or not, can contact us and avail the books,” Jayakumari said.

Plant saplings were also handed over to those who were interested, as part of the programme. A book containing environment-related poems, 35 poems by 40 poets, was also released at the function by poet Murukan Kattakada. The book has poems by amateur as well as a few noted poets like Chunakkara Ramankutty, Kilimanoor Madhu, Perumpuzha Gopalakrishnan among others.Sahyadri was launched in 2012.