–              Aimed to sensitise students to the importance of birds and wildlife in balancing our ecosystem

Chennai: The talk on “Nature Education Through Photography” was a nature education initiative by the Department of Zoology in collaboration with Indian Bird Photography Society. The guest of honour and speaker, Mr. Akhilesh Kumar Sahay, Nature Educator and Author, Founder President Dhanbad Birders and Indian Bird Photography Society addressed the students on the importance of birds, their impact on the ecosystem and the impact of external stressors such as climate change on the birds.

Dr. Kalpana Jayaraman, Head of Department of Zoology, Stella Maris College stated, “This talk brought the students closer to nature through excellent photographs and the reality of how this precious biodiversity is being adversely affected due to climate change and other threats. It was indeed an experience to visit avian biodiversity through the eyes of an expert photographer.”

Mr Sahay, who specializes in photographing birds in flight, took the students on a journey of his experiences through beautiful photographs clicked by him.  These included photographs of wetland birds such as Bar Headed Geese, Ruddy Shelduck, Shoveler, Northern Pintail, etc, forest birds such as Oriental Magpie Robin, Yellow Footed Green Pigeon, etc., as well as birds seen commonly in urban spaces such as the Asian Green Bee eater, Ashy Prinia, etc.

Mr. Sahay shared a message to the students, “In my town, people and the forest department refer to me as a bird expert. It is not true. There are about 1500 species of birds and I have seen only 450 species. The fact is, I like birds and respect them for their role in maintaining a balance in the ecosystem. Birds help Mother Earth by increasing tree cover and in keeping insect numbers under control. Human civilization took 4000 years to discover that plants by photosynthesis take carbon dioxide and give us oxygen. Many creatures complete their life cycle on trees. We do not think for a moment about this and ruthlessly cut trees for building flyovers. The environment belongs to all of us, be it birds or butterflies, everyone has a right to live. Birds play a vital role in ecology by eating 80% insects every year. Refraining from more development is required to conserve them.”

At the end of the presentation, a quiz on the birds seen in the presentation was conducted by Dr. Vinoj Matthew Philip, Naturalist and Author, Member of Indian Bird Photography Society (IBPS), and prizes distributed. Dr. Vinoj, in his address to the students stated, “Youth of today should be productive in spending their time fruitfully. Activities such as bird watching and nature walks should be encouraged rather than spending hours on social media.”