Wokha, October 7 (MExN): Wokha Forest Division organized an Extempore Speech Competition in celebration of Wildlife Week 2018 at Mt. Tiyi College on October 5. The Special Guest for the occasion was Manoj Kumar, IPS, SP Wokha, and the programme was chaired by Zuthunglo Patton, IFS, DFO Wokha. The competition was organized to raise awareness for forests and wildlife and also to give the students a platform to develop confidence and to help them contribute towards this cause, stated a press release.
Welcome address was delivered by Dr. Apeni Lotha, Principal, MTC, Wokha who exhorted the students towards a future with hope. Keynote address was delivered by Dr. Prabhat Kumar, IFS, DFO Doyang Plantation Division. He explained about the genesis of Wildlife Week celebrations in India and elaborated on the importance of forest and wildlife conservation.
Extempore Speech competition commenced on topics such as Renewable Energy, Climate Change, Role of Students in Forest and Wildlife Conservation, Importance of Trees and Honeybees, Amur Falcon Conservation, Human – Elephant conflict, etc. It was conducted by Roland Kikon, Assistant Professor, MTC and was judged by DFO WOkha, DFO Doyang and Dr. Rosanna Kikon, HoD History. First prize was won by Rakhal Roy of BA 1st Semester, second prize by MhonchanJungi of BA 5th Semester, third prize by Meribemo Patton of BA 5th Semester and three consolation prizes by Shanchothung, Michael and Oponthung.
The special guest of the programme, SP Wokha spoke on the theme “Big Cats – predators under threat.” He said that Nagaland should have been home to the big cats but unfortunately is not because of the prevalent practice of hunting which is deep rooted in the culture of the Nagas. He encouraged the students to spread the message of conservation of forests and wildlife to their family and friends and to start the change with them first.
The award winning documentary “Nagaland is Changing but…” by Gurmeet Sapal, produced by the Nagaland Forest Department on two Community Conserved Areas (CCA) of Nagaland was screened.
