What better way to imbibe a few lessons on biodiversity than a walk in the woods.
Thousands of students from Wayanad and Kozhikode districts went on a 14-km trek on the Wayanad Ghat road and learned a few lessons out of syllabus.
A firsthand knowledge of the flora and fauna firmed up their resolve to take up the green cause.
The study trek was organised by the Kerala Prakruthi Samrakshana Ekopana Samithi (KPSES) to highlight the need for conserving rainforests and environment and create environmental awareness among schoolchildren.
The walk, held for the tenth time, was held in association with the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment, National Green Corps, government departments, and the Kozhikode and Wayanad district administration.
Youth Affairs Minister P.K. Jayalakshmi flagged off Prakrithi Padana Dinam-2015 at the Wayanad Gate at Lakkidi in Wayanad at 11 a.m.
The students passed a resolution demanding government intervention against the increasing concrete constructions near the ghat road, an eco-fragile area. As many as 1,05,826 students from 162 schools in Wayanad and Kozhikode and over 600 environmental activists from across the State participated in the walk experiencing the monsoon drizzle and mist in Wayanad.
A ‘class on wheels’ was an attraction of the programme. Experts in two vehicles handled classes on the significance of conserving rainforests, impact of modern constructions, peculiarities of the ghat road and its history, and the various types of clouds.
The participants had a closer look at rainclouds and the rainforests, nearly 700 metres above mean sea level. They sowed seeds of different species of plants.
Apart from environmentalists, teachers and officials of the Education, Forest, and Police departments joined the students. The trek concluded at Adivaram in Kozhikode at 4 p.m.
T. Shobeendran, convenor, KPSES, inaugurated the concluding session. The organisers said they had made arrangements to enter programme in the Guinness Book of World Records.
