The Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary of Kollegal jointly organised district-level competitions on the theme of forest and wildlife conservation for school and college students on Monday.
S. Jayanna, MLA, presided over the inauguration, while G. Malleshappa, member of the Karnataka State Wildlife Board, the Deputy Conservators of Forests of the two jurisdictions, and the Assistant Commissioner of Kollegal participated.
In his address, Mr. Malleshappa said he had requested the Kollegal MLA to support the Forest Department in its resolve to declare the sanctuaries as tiger reserves, and the Union government had given its nod to do so last year.
The winners of the taluk-level competitions (in Chamarajanagar, Yelandur, Kollegal, Malavalli, Kanakapura, Mandya, and Ramanagaram) participated in the contests on Monday. In total, 230 students from 78 schools and colleges took part in various categories.
“As more than 50 per cent of Chamarajanagar district is a wildlife sanctuary, it is important to create awareness on the need to protect wildlife among students, youth and the public,” a release from forest officials said.
From this year, the Forest Department has decided to cover all the schools of Chamarajanagar in the competitions and programmes organised as part of Wildlife Week. The programmes will last about a month and the prizes will be distributed in the first week of October, the release said.
The winners of this year's contests will be handed out prizes on October 3 at a programme to be inaugurated by Chamarajanagar in-charge Minister H.S. Mahadev Prasad. R. Dhruvanarayana, MP, will also be present.
