Report on Visit to Aravali Biodiversity Park  

Ahlcon International School was invited by WWF and Ministry of Environment Education to visit Aravali Biodiversity Park for a Nature Camping Programme of 2 days &1 night on 18^th and 19^th March 2014, where 32 students of class VII and VIII along with 2 teachers participated.

The Aravali Biodiversity Park is situated near Vasant Vihar and is being developed at 693 acres of land that was over mined and completely infected with Prosopis Juliflora (Vilayati kikar) and has lost indigenous biodiversity. The major portion of the park is rocky and devoid of soil and vegetation cover. With its different habitat types and ecosystems having many rare and endangered flora and fauna, the park serves as a live museum and laboratory for promoting environmental education.

When the children and teachers arrived at the campsite, the research team welcomed them and allotted 7 tents to be shared among all. In the first nature trail the children were taken to a Herbal Garden and shown various species of medicinal plants and told about their uses. Then they visited the Butterfly Conservatory where they learnt about the lifecycle of a butterfly and observed its various stages. The children also visited Orchidarium and studied about the plantation of orchids. Few students were selected for a video recording on Earth Hour. In the afternoon the children enjoyed clay modeling. In the evening, the children went for bird watching and saw around 40 birds and identified their nature calls. A movie on the beauty of Aravali Biodiversity Park was shown once the children returned to the campsite. They also enjoyed dinner around a campfire.

Next day, early morning children went to their last nature trail to enjoy the fresh air and see a variety of flora and fauna. Many nature education activities like quiz, debate and thumb printing were enjoyed by the children.   

 It was a great source of motivation for the students to attend the camp and study about the degradation and revival of a degraded ecosystem. They were sensitized towards nature appreciation and conservation. The nature walk through the park has encouraged qualities of leadership, exploration and nature observation among the students.