The Biodiversity Green Haat (Market Place) 2015 was launched on 6th April 2015, at the front lawns of the MoEF&CC. Inaugurated by Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Minister for the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India, the event focused at providing market linkages to the NGOs/CBOs supported under the Global Environment Facility (GEF)/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Small Grants Programme.

A total of 43 partners, exclusively of GEF/UNDP SGP NGOs from all over the country, put up 34 stalls. They displayed and sold non-timber forest produce – both agro-processed and crafts, herbal and medicinal products and forest-based food items.

Mr. Jaco Cilliers, UNDP RR a.i. and Country Director, along with Dr. Preeti Soni, Head-Energy & Environment Unit, graced the occasion. Mr. Cilliers also released the brochure “CEE and UN”, which highlights the work CEE has done with the UN.

Mr. Ashok Lavasa, Secretary, MoEF&CC, and the Additional Secretary, Mr. Hem Pande visited every stall at the Haat and interacted with the NGO partners, while Mrs. Kiran Mehra-Kerpelman, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Director for India and Bhutan and Mrs. Karuna Singh, Director-Earth Day Network visited the Haat and released two brochures. The GEF/SGP National Coordinator from Kabul, Mr. Aimal Khaurin was also present on the occasion.

The MoEF&CC, in partnership with GEF/UNDP Small Grants Program, CEE, UNIC and National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) organized the Biodiversity Green Haat, 2015, which continued till 12th April 2015. The MoEF&CC has further linked up the programme with the NBA for promoting the aims and objectives of NBA, who supported the event.

The ‘Create to Inspire School Programme’ felicitation ceremony was held on 22nd April, 2015. Coinciding with Earth Day celebrations, the felicitation ceremony also witnessed children from various schools visiting the CEE campus in Ahmedabad and engaging in various activities including poster making, slogan writing, theatre performance and quiz. An exhibition putting forth the work done by the students was deeply appreciated.

A joint initiative of CEE, Microsoft and GIZ, the ‘Create to Inspire School Programme’ focuses on action-based project learning in various themes including waste and E-waste management, water, sustainable transport, biodiversity, and energy. The programme reaches out to 120 schools in Ahmedabad, and has succeeded in providing a platform for teachers and students to develop and use creative skills to build environmental action projects that initiate behavioral changes in the society on Sustainable Consumption.

CEE North, with support from the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), organized the “Save Ganges River Dolphin – Save Ganga” event on 24th April 2015, at the Regional Science City, Aliganj, in Lucknow. The objective of the event was to spread awareness and sensitize young students and other stakeholders, including teachers and media, about the conservation of Ganges River Dolphin in non-dolphin locations.

In the event, more than 150 children and teachers from 8 schools in Lucknow, as well as 5 dolphin cluster schools of Allahabad, Bahraich, Faizabad and Varanasi, participated. The event, which began with the setting up of exhibition by dolphin schools, witnessed various competitions for raising awareness and sensitizing the children about this endangered species. Ms. Preeti R. Kanuajia from CEE conducted an orientation session for the students to make them understand how the Ganges river dolphin is different from the sea dolphin. She also spoke about the role and importance of dolphins in the river biodiversity.

The Chief Guest for the programme Ms. Pratibha Singh, Secretary, UP State Biodiversity Board, Uttar Pradesh, stated how the Ganges River Dolphin was a top predator in the river, similar to the tiger in a forest. She further stressed on the importance of conserving the species, for the conservation of nature. Special guest Dr. Amit Kumar Gupta, Deputy Director, Regional Office – MoEF&CC, Lucknow, spoke about the need for individual action to save the environment, while Mr. Umesh Rustogi, Head, Regional Science City, appreciated the creativity of the students.

Students of dolphin cluster school Saraswati Kanya Inter college, Varanasi, presented a skit focusing on the pollution in Ganga, and its impact on animals and humans. The guests gave away prizes and certificates to the winners.

CEE Himalaya launched Open Defecation Free (ODF) Environment and WASH related Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material in the form of Year Planner 2015 – 16. The Planner was launched under the project “Accelerating Rural Sanitation and Creating Enabling Environment for Open Defecation Free (ODF) Environment,” which is being implemented in Khardauri NP of Block Shriduttganj, District Balrampur, with support from UNICEF.

The Planner, with its clear yet concise messages, will enable the CEE India team to reach out to different target groups like villagers, schools community, officials, shopkeepers and village representatives. It contains photographs depicting the basic steps of handwashing, features slogans on WASH, and highlights other important aspects, including maintaining cleanliness and personal hygiene. The Planner has been distributed among 50 different government organizations, and is being used extensively during the CEE training sessions.

The mass awareness campaign, which uses various tools including the display of the year planner 2015, has covered over 2400 households and reached out to over 14,000 people.

CEE is the ENVIS centre on Environmental Education (EE). As an ENVIS centre, CEE caters to the information needs of environmental educators. Write to the CEE ENVIS Centre at [email protected]

As part of the Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, a three-day media workshop on “Adaptation to Climate Change in the Indian Himalayas” was organized in Srinagar from April 6-8, 2015, by CEE Himalaya and The Third Pole.

Dr. Tej Pratap, Vice Chancellor, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology – Kashmir (SKUAST-K), gave the inaugural address and spoke at length about Climate Change, its causes and consequences. Sonam Lotus, Director, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) – Srinagar, spoke about the weather patterns that led to the devastating floods, while Mir Javed Jafer, Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control (IFC), Kashmir, spoke about the huge amount of water flow that caused breaches in the embankments and subsequent flooding, and the construction of the alternate spill channel from Dogripora to Gund Ibrahim and then to Wular Lake.

Engineer Iftikhar A. Hakim, Chief Town Planner, Srinagar Development Authority (SDA), stressed on the importance of preserving water bodies, while Prof. G M Dar, Faculty, Disaster Management, Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development (IMPA), stated that the dredging of river Jhelum is no solution for floods, but watershed management is.

The participants also visited several flood-affected places within and outside Srinagar city. They interacted with the local displaced populace at Parimpora, who – after the devastating September 2014 floods - were living in the makeshift shelters provided to them by the state government.

CEE North facilitated the visit of the national workshop delegates on 17 April 2015 to a CFP school in Lucknow. The Children's Forest Programme (CFP) is supported under Uttar Pradesh - Participatory Forest Management and Poverty Alleviation Project (UP-PFMPAP) with financial assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). More than 100 children from 3 schools took part in welcoming the group of 35 delegates to the CFP school.

On the arrival of guests, a plantation ceremony was held and the delegates were taken to see the plantation done by children. Delegates visited the exhibition set up by students, which put forth the best of waste products, posters and models. At a formal ceremony organized in the open green space, the CEE team shared the overall journey of the CFP programme in Lucknow, and the CFP school teams presented songs and skits.

Ms. Michiko Ebatu, Consultant from JICA, addressed the students and expressed happiness on being able to visit a CFP school and interact with the children. Mr. Rajeev Kumar, Chief Project Director of UP-PFMPAP, appreciated the exhibition and presentation made by the students. Students were also invited to share their thoughts about greening and environmental concerns.

CEE Jaipur, along with Rajasthan State Bharat Scouts and Guides (RSBSG) and eco-club members, celebrated Earth Day at Sikar, by organizing an event under the National Green Corps (NGC) programme. CEE is the state resource agency and RSBSG is the state nodal agency for the NGC programme in Rajasthan.

The event kicked off with a cleanliness drive at the heritage site of Bada talab, and was followed by a rally aimed at raising awareness among the citizens about the linkage of our traditional water bodies in water conservation. The CEE team also conducted an audio-visual quiz for the students, along with screening the movie ‘Badalata Mausam’. The day ended with a nature trail at Harsh Parvat, organised with the support of the Forest Department. The event saw enthusiastic participation of over 200 students in various activities.

On the occasion of Earth Day, CEE North organized events in Lucknow and Bareilly districts. These events were organized as part of Children's Forest Programme (CFP).

In Lucknow, the event witnessed participation from 9 schools, including over 80 students and 20 teachers, while more than 230 students and teachers from 25 schools of Bareilly participated. The events, organized as part of Children’s Forest Programme (CFP), aimed at sensitizing the students and teachers on climate change and its impact. The CEE team briefed students on the importance of the day and the theme. After orientation, a film on an environment-action success story was screened, so as to sensitize the students and teachers about environmental issues. The film screening was followed by a quiz competition.

The students also participated in the exhibition on the theme of 'We can save the environment’. Through their paintings, the students put forth their thoughts/ideas for green cities. On the occasion, a lecture on Earth Day was delivered by an expert, while the Forest Department officials interacted with the students and shared the significance of greening mother earth. The Programme concluded with the distribution of prizes to the winning students and schools.

After covering four major districts of Uttar Pradesh, the Prakriti Bus - a mobile exhibition developed by CEE with support from the UP State Biodiversity Board and University of Lucknow - reached Hardoi District in April 2015.

A formal welcome ceremony was organized on 25th April 2015 at the Government Girls Inter College, Sandila, Hardoi. Mrs. Renu Singh, IFS, Divisional Director Social Forestry, Hardoi, graced the occasion as the chief guest of the programme. Ms. Preeti R. Kanaujia from CEE spoke about the journey of the bus in the State, while Mr. Neeraj K. Pal from CEE briefed the students and teachers about the bus and its objective, and gave a brief introduction on biodiversity.

The bus, which covered 14 schools and 2 community places in Hardoi, benefited nearly 7000 visitors in the district. Biodiversity education events like painting competitions, quiz, games etc. were also conducted to observe the International Biodiversity Day.