Devi Charan Barua, a group of students from the Department of Geography
Girls College, Bhuyanparay of Jorhat Manser participated in Aranyak’s recent Journey for Learning programme, the region’s leading biodiversity conservation non-profit. The purpose of the field trip was to understand the Manas area from a disaster perspective.
The three-day program began on December 22-24 at the Manas Conservation and Outreach Center (MCOC), Manas’ research-based biodiversity conservation organization, Aaranyak (www.aaranyak.org). The program includes a series of field activities and theory sessions
Experiential learning.
On the first day, students had a session on the importance of field geography and how to conduct field activities by Dr. Jayant Kumar Sharma of Aranyaka. Talked about its importance
Having observers in the field so as to be able to take any minute details of the surrounding conditions and for them to keep a record of the observations through photographs, drawings and notes respectively understanding.
The session helped the students during a village walk which was followed by field activities organized for the students. Students walk along the boundary of Manas National Park in the Bhuyanpara range and enter the marginal village of Bamankhal (or Bamunkhal).
They experienced the Bodo cultural and natural sceneries and also interacted with the Bodo community. The day concluded with a theoretical session by Dr. Sarma, who informed the students about the terrain of the area and some of the main causes of natural disasters in the area. Aranyak’s National Award-winning non-feature environmental film ‘Mans and People’ was also screened in the evening.
Day 2 begins with soundscape mapping, viewscape mapping and drawing on Manas National Park boundary followed by family survey briefing by Dr. Sarma and GPS and GIS orientation and field activities by Gayatri Dutta from Aranyak. Students were given hands-on training and practical experience in using GPS and QGIS. Students were also introduced to household surveys in Korebari and Bhuiyanpara, villages near Manas.