May 2022

International Day for Biological Diversity 2022

On International Day for Biological Diversity 2022, the Wildlife Institute of India - Category 2 Centre facilitated an inclusive and equal opportunity campus walk for a mixed group of students and interested visitors in WII. It was a celebration of diversity of learning while exploring the importance of biodiversity. Students from the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (Divyangjan) and the Bajaj Institute Of Learning For Deaf Children, both Dehradun based, represented the eager school student community who through their sign language interpretation and movement assistance revelled in the introduction to campus biodiversity led by Dr. Gautam Talukdar, Faculty In-Charge, WII-C2C and Dr. R. Suresh Kumar.

Accompanying the students were a small group of volunteers from the Been There Doon That (BTDT) community which has been pioneering heritage walks in the Doon Valley region. The total group size approximately 50. The visitors got to sample the texture, smells, sounds and associated ecological stories of leaves, bark and birds among others. The group explored the WII trail pausing at various habitats and features like termite mounds and the pond to understand the intricate working of ecosystems which are often not discussed enough. As interviews for the Divyangan radio station and an impromptu quiz of the students revealed, every bit of information shared was absorbed with deep interest and the cause of protecting biodiversity significantly strengthened through communication in new and old channels.

Last Updated: May 23, 2022

At Home with Nature : Learning Biodiversity from the Biodiverse" : An Online Natural Heritage Quiz

An Online Natural Heritage Quiz

An online quiz on Asia-Pacific's magnificent Natural World Heritage at: https://bit.ly/nh-quiz-2022 by WII-C2C and World Heritage Centre. E-certificates for all participants. #ibd2022 #naturalheritage #wiic2c #whc #worldheritage

Last Updated: May 22, 2022

WII-C2C in collaboration with James Cook University organized a webinar on “Climate Vulnerability Index: Addressing Climate Change in World Heritage Sites”

Addressing Climate Change in World Heritage Sites”

On Friday, 20th May 2022, WII-C2C in collaboration with James Cook University organized a webinar on “Climate Vulnerability Index: Addressing Climate Change in World Heritage Sites”.

The Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) developed at the James Cook University is a novel rapid assessment tool for potential impact of climate change on World Heritage Sites. Successfully applied in natural and cultural World Heritage properties in a wide range of geographies from Nigeria to Norway, CVI’s values-based, science-driven, and community-focused methods aim to identify and promote adaptive management of climate-related threats showing a new common way forward.

The webinar was initiated by Dr. Gautam Talukdar, Faculty In-Charge, WII-C2C who introduced the speaker who was here in person at WII-C2C, Ms Taruna Venkatachalam (Research Assistant for the CVI) of James Cook University (JCU), Australia and fellow panelists, Mr. Scott Heron (Associate Professor, JCU) & Dr. Jon Day, developers of the CVI who joined remotely from JCU Australia.

In her presentation, Ms. Venkatachalam took the audience through the CVI stages from values assessment to community focus to the risk-matrix approach. She also clarified on the strengths and limitations of the CVI process mentioning refinements made as the CVI process was applied to a number of World Heritage sites – cultural, mixed, and natural over a period of time. When the floor was opened for audience questions, topics like policy impacts, applicability to non-World Heritage sites and elements of subjectivity in the CVI process were covered. About 35 participants joined in the webinar including attendees from Mexico and Australia.

Last Updated: May 22, 2022

Dugong and Seagrass ecosystem meme Contest on the occasion of World Dugong day

How to participate :

1. Create a meme about dugongs or seagrass habitat.

2. Share the meme from your account with the hashtag #WDDMemecontest and tag @dugongsforever, and send it via the registration link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ENjIgP5E-P1SAZJDE_l6uG7-tYaRSVRL5pomNlZvqCs/edit

And DM to any of the three social media accounts.

3. Tag 3 of your contacts in the post and share the post as a story by tagging us.

There are no creative boundaries... create meme gifs, meme cartoons, or meme pictures and send them to us by May 25th! Only one entry per person is permitted.

Exciting prizes will be awarded to the top three memes!