Conservation Leadership Course ~ Talk.

This post shares of my talk at the Conservation Leadership Course.

Had put in time on the talk before I moved from Saiha and made notes (love putting pencil on thick paper that the magazine covers offer) to which I kept on adding points in course of my travel.

Points I had noted for sharing before reaching Ranthambhore.

·         Our understanding of and approach to conservation education. The need to create platforms that enable us to deliberate with different segments of the society on wildlife issues i.e. look beyond school-going children and imparting messages.

·         Share anecdotes; talk of incidents in course of the program that guide us on the road ahead.

·     Discuss our activities in conservation education especially film-screenings, emphasis on process-documentation and sharing.

·         Share of life in our parts of the world.

·         Talk on how other organizations active in India look at conservation education and actions they undertake.

·         Ask participants for their understanding of conservation education and share few definitions with them.

While I was aware of the program schedule and the time I had thought it made sense to freeze the contents after a talk with Dharmendra, at least a day before the program. I also would have some idea on the participants’ profile. What little baggage I carried of apprehension, on the topic, was unloaded after my talks with Dharmendra.

Points discussed with Dharmendra.

·         Share the experience of initiating and nurturing field-units including problems faced in course of interventions. He stressed on this saying it was not very common and would be interest to the group.

·         Talk of experience and learning in context of conservation education as opposed to how once can develop material. Jisko theory hi padhna hoga woh net pe doondh lega he said.

·         Structure the talk such that it is of relevance to participants who want to work on wildlife conservation issues.

There was a high degree of commonality which put me at ease and I worked on the slides. I attended the program as a part of the group and also got to interact with participants which helped me bring in a few modifications. I recalled how my packing is incomplete till I actually leave the house; no matter how early I begin. Modifications continued till the talk came to an end.

During the talk.

·         Bifurcated the time allotted to me with a break and planned accordingly.

·         Had a dilemma on the language I should use which was resolved by a participant requesting me to talk in English during the first slide itself.

·         Screened a film by Kalyan Varma – ‘A Hunter’s Tale’ in lieu of my plan to ask participants to share what they understood by ‘conservation education’. The film was not screened, as we do with participants in course of our programs, with field guides, halts and interactions but I stood silent in a corner, looking at the silent reactions on the participants’ faces.

·         Asked a participant (Smita from FES – Mandla Unit) to talk of her experience with conservation education.

·         Missed a couple of points to share in course of answering the questions mid-way but was happy that the questions were put forth.

·         Tried to make it interactive by asking of pictures - what they depicted. Had asked Yaranjit (colleague from Baghmara field base) not to reply to this set of questions and also requested him to keep track of proceedings in course of the 2 sessions.

·         Designed separate presentations for distinct topics of ‘Samrakshan and conservation education’, ‘Conservation education by other organizations’ and ‘Conservation education – definitions’. This I thought would help communicate in a better fashion.

Importantly, felt good after the sessions.

Images depict select slides from the presentations.

Thanking all the participants and Ranthambhore Safari Lodge.