TOWARDS A GREENER FUTURE
Nasser Lalljee
IN 1976, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park acquired
vast tracts of land around Manpada. The land was in
private ownership and housed six stone quarries, which
devastated the pristine forestland. Today, the national
park has created a nature interpretation center at
the same spot (near Tikujiniwadi), spread over 165
acres, which will involve itself in nature conservation,
and other such related projects. The center is all
set to play a supportive role towards building nature
awareness and forging a healthy interaction between
students and other like-minded individuals and nature.
This will encourage a process of learning from nature,
and bring about a systematic change in the environment
around Thane.
The forest department, with help from school and college
students, social groups, and other voluntary members,
has already started a campaign to grow more trees
and has slowly brought the entire area under tree
cover.
The
entire concept of starting a nature interpretation center
took shape in 1998 with the intention of imparting nature
education to people around Maharashtra. Some such centers
are based in Pune. Tadoba, and Rehekune. In each of
these places is a medicinal plant garden, which gives
people an idea of how nature can cure.
Each
nature interpretation center is complete with toilets
and water facilities, viewing galleries, and nature
trails. Future plans include constructing auditoriums
to display films on nature and wild life and to have
medicinal plant conservation schemes as also special
bird watchers’ programmes.
A
special cell to study life on adivasis, with a special!
Focus on their culture, too is under way. Similary,
mangrove interpretation centers for the study of coastal
ecosystems and mangroves will be coming up near Ghodbunder
Road.
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