Until a year ago, Tikeshwar Nishad had not even heard of the term “bird watching”. Another youngster from the state, Kumbhaj Sahu, believed that snakes were harmful and “we should kill them.” Their peer Narendra Verma was not aware of the sheer variety of butterflies in his surroundings.
But over the last one year, something changed. Nishad managed to rescue a migratory bird from the clutches of hunters, Sahu has taken to not just rescuing snakes but also advising others against killing them, and Verma is learning about the behaviour of butterflies.
The change in the attitude of the three Chhattisgarh-based youngsters is a result of YUVAN – an initiative of the state’s forest department, which is aimed at bridging the growing gap between youngsters and nature.
The idea for YUVAN took shape in Raipur’s Nandanvan jungle safari in 2024 and expanded to Baloda Bazar district last year. “Across the world, young people are growing up in a fast-paced digital environment. Their lives are increasingly shaped by screens, social media, and technology, while their connection with forests, wildlife, and nature is becoming weaker. This growing gap between young people and the natural world is one of the biggest challenges for conservation today. Recognising this challenge, we launched a Youth Volunteer Programme called YUVAN,” says former Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Baloda Bazar, Ganveer Dhammshil, explaining that YUVAN stands for Yuva (youth) and Van (forests).
Over the past year, Nishad, 23, says he has manged to stop several villagers from illegally felling trees besides rescuing a migratory bird from hunters.
‘Practical experience over long lectures’
On the idea behind the initiative, Dhammshil says, “Gen Z learns differently. They enjoy practical experiences more than long lectures. Keeping this in mind, YUVAN has been designed around experiential learning.”
He adds, “Instead of simply explaining the importance of forests, students are taken there. Instead of only talking about biodiversity, they get to observe birds, insects, medicinal plants, wetlands, rivers, and wildlife habitats firsthand. Instead of discussing conservation in theory, they participate in plantation drives, seed ball campaigns, wetland restoration, biodiversity documentation, and community awareness activities. This practical approach makes conservation meaningful, enjoyable, and memorable.”
Apart from tree plantation, the volunteers are taught about conservation of forest, wildlife and wetland; bird monitoring; biodiversity; human-wildlife conflict; climate change; eco-tourism and community participation. The volunteers also get exposure to skills such as nature interpretation, wildlife photography and biodiversity documentation.
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Says Sahu, 22, who volunteered for YUVAN in Sonbarsa Reserve Forest, “I never imagined I would hold a snake in my hand but I did while learning how to rescue the reptile. I used to think they were harmful and we should kill them but now I rescue them and also tell others not to harm snakes.”
Sahu says he also developed interest in bird watching, planting trees, dousing forest fires and learning about different types of butterflies.
‘A completely different world’
“You forget everything else in life when you enter the forest and enjoy nature. I witnessed a completely different world out there and developed a feeling of co-existence,” he adds.
Verma, also 22, says he developed an interest in wildlife photography after visiting Barnawapara wildlife sanctuary as part of the initiative. “They taught us several things, for example the learning behaviour of birds and butterflies. Now, I teach youngsters in my area about wildlife. I even rescued a non-venomous water snake,” he adds.
Talking about how the initiative led him to save a bird, 23-year-old Nishad says, “We learnt how birds build their nests. They are engineers without hands. Some students, including me, won a competition, and received binoculars as a gift that we use for bird watching. I also saved a red-wattled lapwing bird this year from a pond. Villagers hunt this bird for meat but now we are creating awareness against it.”
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The initiative is now also reaching out to school children to make them “Junior YUVANs.”
As part of this, every Saturday of monsoon, school children participate in activities like guided forest walks, nature interpretation and biodiversity observation, seed-ball preparation and sowing, wetland awareness, soil and water conservation demonstrations, medicinal plant identification, wildlife awareness, environmental games and interactive learning.
Talking about the impact it had on school students, one of the coordinators, Shubhashni K Lal, says, “Initially, students are quiet but slowly, they start asking questions. It has increased their interest and enthusiasm towards nature and wildlife and they may want to pursue a career in this field.”
Already, the initiative has created a chain of 500 volunteers apart from several hundred school students who have also been sensitised. When asked about the role these volunteers could play on the ground, Dhammshil says, “Our hope is that they help communities respond to wildlife-related situations and spread awareness about coexistence. We want every village to have one or two youth who can act as primary responders who can support the Forest Department during situations such as human-wildlife conflict, forest-fire prevention, and other environmental emergencies.”