A wave of nostalgia swept over me as I walked through the serene campus of Kodaikanal’s Sacred Heart College on a misty morning this year. Way back in 1999, I was part of a group of eighth-grade students from various schools in Trichy who attended a three-day residential programme at this very campus. Organised by the Anglade Institute of Natural History, which celebrates four decades of work this year, the programme was a revelation.
The workshop was like a crash course on environmental awareness. It showed me the importance of the flora and fauna of the Palani Hills; it was then that I learnt about the role of the sholas in retaining water to ensure long-term supply to the plains, and the significance of our local environment on a global scale.
In the 1980s, the rise of urbanisation had escalated plastic pollution, and dense forests were increasingly depleting. The institution’s founder, the legendary botanist and priest K M Matthew, saw Kodaikanal as the ideal setting in which to educate the public on the flora and fauna of the Western Ghats, and how they shape life not only in the hills but also beyond. ‘The ecological balance must be maintained. That was the vision that Father Mathew had,’ says Father Joseph Antony Samy S J, who heads the Anglade Institute of Natural History today.
In the same spirit, a new programme by Kodaikanal International School’s Centre for Environment and Humanity (KIS CEH) aims to educate and inspire Kodaikanal’s youngest residents. JNAN is a programme designed for schoolchildren in the Palani Hills with the objective of teaching them about biodiversity and its importance in the context of Kodaikanal, thus fostering a sense of investment in their own future. Over the last academic year, 50 students from 16 schools and across 20 villages* in the Palani Hills have come together every Saturday to learn and put their heads together to tackle the town’s environmental challenges: the Junior Naturalists Action Network (JNAN). They learn inside classrooms, on farms and in forests to better understand their environment, after being selected by Dr Rajamanikam Ramamoorthy, community outreach programme manager at KIS CEH.
Throughout the first year of the JNAN program, KIS CEH engaged experts ranging from butterfly scientists to clay sculptures and paper modelling specialists to engage them in fun-filled activities while teaching them about birds and butterflies. This educational training has been complemented with fieldwork; the students conducted interviews with the local community, visited Adukkam to speak to farmers there, explored Kookal Lake, and met a coffee farmer in Thandikudi. The programme culminated in a bird census in March: three days of immersive fieldwork in a wildlife sanctuary (areas in Berijam and Mannavanur, among other sites), in collaboration with the forest department.
This April, their efforts and learning culminated in a graduation ceremony attended by their parents, teachers, government officials from the forest department and NGOs involved in environmental activities. At the ceremony, the students presented their drawings of a Malabar squirrel and a butterfly—created during a wildlife art workshop held on one Saturday—as gifts to the organizers spearheading the programme. Addressing the audience, Dr Rajamanikam said, ‘This is like a harvest day for me’.
Environmental programs for young naturalists elsewhere in India such as Young Naturalist Training Course (YNAT)—run for children aged 9-16 at national parks such as Bandhavgarh, Satpura, Pench, Kanha and Tadoba—and Urban Wilderness Walks—an internship programme within which life science college students conduct walks for school children, through the Madras Naturalists’ Society—are popular. ‘Connection comes before care and stewardship. A weekly experience of the community consistently coming together, building a ritual of connection with the living world… what might that do to our perceptions, and to our relations with each other?” wonders Yuvan Aves, the Chennai-based naturalist, writer and nature-educator who conducts the latter program. ‘Practices like this shift our culture, deepen our wells of meaning and what life means to each of us. And then later perhaps, what we chose to care for, work for, fight for.’
It Takes A Village
‘My parents used weed killer to clear the land of weeds. After I joined JNAN and spoke to him, my father agreed to use only organic manure to cultivate potatoes [on his farm, two kilometres from Perumalmalai Peak], and this year, the yield has doubled and the potatoes appeared whiter too,’ says S Tharani, a tenth grade student of St Joseph’s High School, Perumlalmalai, who participated in the programme while in the ninth grade. ‘I am very happy,’ she says. ‘To me, it is a personal victory.’ While she has been seeing the Nilgiri tahr since childhood, it is only after joining JNAN that she learnt that the species is endemic.
‘When KIS CEH introduced the programme to me, they said that the children would communicate the message of environmental awareness through their parents, friends and neighbours,’ says A Arul Rani, science BT (Bachelor of Teaching) assistant, CSI Middle School. ‘Last year, I recommended two students. One of them, J Anthony Raj of grade 6, went on to score the highest mark in the quiz organised during the course of the programme. He never missed a class.’
The syllabus started with a basic introduction of Kodaikanal and its natural history. ‘Many students from different parts of Kodaikanal have not seen other parts of it; the farming communities may not have seen the urban slums, or people who work on sanitation and waste management may not be exposed to the farming communities. It was a good way to create a network of people all over the Palani Hills,’ says Iti Maloney, director, KIS CEH. Next was an orientation in natural resources like water, air, soil, biodiversity, wildlife and the goods and services people get from them, through field exposure and with the help of art, poetry and stories. In addition to theory classes, the students went birdwatching, visited tribal settlements and camped overnight in the wetlands. ‘Through these activities, we want people to feel a personal connection to their land and natural resources in order to feel empowered to conserve it,’ says Maloney.
While such knowledge is often passed down through generations, the parents of JNAN students believe the programme can enhance that process in these evolving times. Packiyadass, an organic farmer based in Kodaikanal, shares the growth of his son P Ashwin, from RC School: ‘Before the programme, he could identify only a few species of birds. Today, he can identify about 80 species and is knowledgeable about which areas he can visit to spot them.’ ‘During the programme, I have also accompanied the students during their field trips to Thandikudi, Adukkam and other villages, and taught them about farming. Besides mainstream education, which is important, students should be aware of the laws and politics of the environment. So I taught them as I do my son.’
Bird’s Eye View
The JNAN programme aims to immerse students in the diverse roles of a naturalist. ‘Birdwatching is the easiest way to introduce someone to becoming a naturalist. Birds are easy to spot. They are bright and colourful and abundant, as compared to mammals or other animals. Because they fly, they are easier to spot,’ says Maloney. Over multiple trips, the students became adept at identifying birds, even identifying them by their calls—a skill I observed firsthand during a JNAN birdwatching walk in Bombay Shola this June.
Before joining JNAN, A Joy Angel, an eighth grader at St Xavier’s Higher Secondary School in Naidupuram, could only recognise the occasional crow and sparrow. ‘Today, I can identify around 100 species of birds,’ says Angel proudly. She also learnt how to segregate waste. ‘My classmates used to tease me when they heard about my participation in clean-up drives, saying that I am going to pick up garbage [emphasis added]. I never took offence and instead calmly replied, “Yes, I am going to pick the garbage that you have thrown.”’
The programme has encountered some roadblocks. ‘Generally, parents are more hesitant to send their daughters into the forest or on any field work. This was especially difficult during the bird census which was the only occasion when the students entered the core forest areas. For us to make them feel comfortable, we had to ensure that there was a female chaperone,’ says Maloney.
There were also logistical challenges. Parents wanted to know their children’s whereabouts at all times, which involved extensive coordination through phone calls and WhatsApp. The KIS CEH team says they ensured there were three forest guards present, carried a first aid kit and stayed at the forest guest house. As a result, ‘We have built trust with the parents,’ says Maloney. ‘They are still concerned about the girls. But the girls themselves speak for their experiences and help convince their parents of how valuable the programme is to them.’
Generation Change
Mark Antrobus, president of the Palni Hills Conservation Council (PHCC), emphasises the importance of bridging generational gaps. ‘I hope the next generation will control development, save our streams and clean up Kodai,’ he commented, at the JNAN graduation ceremony. ‘We also need better cooperation for data collection towards calculating the carrying capacity.’
This August, a new cohort of 80 students from 17 schools began the second year of the programme, focussing on subjects ranging from waste segregation to water management. KIS CEH hopes to organise the students by geographic region, allowing children from Vilpatti, Pambarpuram and Naidupuram to get together and collaborate on environmental projects. For the long term, they say they seek to develop and document a robust curriculum on place-based environmental education that they can promote in schools not just in Kodaikanal but potentially across India.
Meanwhile, school leaders continue to drive change and see engagement. ‘In our school, I have banned the children from bringing in chocolates, especially to distribute on their birthday,’ says B C Rajagopal Shankar, school principal, Sri Sankara Vidyalaya. ‘Instead, they can bring peanut candy. This is to avoid having plastic wrappers thrown on campus.’
Tharani, the JNAN student from Perumalmalai, was determined to raise environmental awareness in her community. Together with a younger schoolmate, also a member of JNAN, they created informative charts on nature conservation, tree planting and the impact of garbage on wildlife. With the help of their parents, they enlisted about 20 people, including adults from their neighbourhood, and went to the Perumalmalai check post to meet the forest ranger. The ranger explained that Perumalmalai panchayat must be separated from Adukkam panchayat to be able to function better (due to its large size) but that it would take some time.
‘Now, the volume of garbage lying around has reduced,’ says Tharani. Every student has started waste segregation at home, recycling as much as possible. They contribute to the JNAN WhatsApp group by sending photos they have taken of birds, poems they’ve written and sketches they’ve created. One boy started collecting feathers and drew the bird associated with each one he found.
‘When I discovered JNAN, I knew my son, studying at Presentation Convent, would learn directly from experts,’ says T F Pudhumai Dhinagaran, a radio jockey at Kodai FM for 16 years and a JNAN parent who combines his passion for social activism with an avid interest in Tamil Nadu’s history. This year, his daughter, too, has joined the programme. ‘Today, I am learning from my children,’ says Dhinagaran.
Learning by example is powerful. I remember watching the brothers at Sacred Heart College segregate kitchen waste on a day-to-day basis. The simplicity and routine of their actions were wonderful to witness. Awareness has become ingrained in their lives—an awareness that needs to be part of everyone’s way of life.
*The 16 schools that participated are: St Joseph’s Higher Secondary School, St Xavier’s Girls Higher Secondary School, (Shenbaganur), Government Higher Secondary School, RC Town Higher Secondary School, CSI Middle School, St, Theresa’s Higher Secondary School, St John’s Primary School, St John’s Higher Secondary School, St Xavier’s Girls Higher Secondary School, St Peter’s International School, Presentation Convent School, My School Satya Surabhi, Sholai School, Sri Sankara Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Brindavan Public School and Government High School, Vilpatti.