Organisation

Wild Treasure Show

Year : 2008
Location: V.O.C. Park, Coimbatore

OSAI organization is started in the year 2000 with a vision to conserve our biodiversity wealth and to create eco-conscious society through awareness campaigns, research studies, ecoactivism,eco-advocacy and publications. Every year as a part of Wildlife Week Celebration, OSAI is organizing Photographic Exhibition on Wildlife and Nature to create awareness among students and public about the role and importance of Western Ghats for human existence. The photographic exhibitions help to bridge scientific and environmental community with the common people. Since 2002, five exhibitions have been completed successfully. This year, the photographic exhibition programme was conducted for 10 days in the name "Uyir Nizhal". The programme was jointly organised with Coimbatore Forest Division of Tamilnadu Forest Department, Rotary Club of Coimbatore Metropolis and VOC Park Zoo of Coimbatore Corporation from 3rd to 12th of October at VOC Park, Coimbatore.

Inauguration

The programme was inaugurated on the eve of 3rd October.

Welcome Address

Rtn. Narayanan Krishnan
President
Rotary Club of Coimbatore Metropolis

Introduction

Mr. K. Kalidasan
President
OSAI

Presided over by

Mr. R. Kannan, I.F.S.
Conservator of Forests
Coimbatore Circle

Uyir Nizhal Photographic Exhibition was declared open by

Mr. V. Palanikumar, I.A.S. District Collector Coimbatore

CHITTU - Documentary film CD released by

Mr. R. Kaliannan
Inspector of Matriculation schools
Coimbatore

Special Address by

Kavignar. Sirpi
Topic: Tamizhar Vaazhvil Kaanuyir

Felicitations

Rtn. S. Satish

Vote of Thanks

Mr. V. Mageshkumar,
Organiser
OSAI

About the photo gallery

The exhibition comprises of 600 photographs of different fauna and flora which were categorized under landscapes, birds, mammals etc. The photographs of birds and mammals were exhibited with a short note about them. Moreover, each portrait had the common, scientific and tamil name of the species. Amidst of every photograph, an environmental quotation or a poem of renowned personalities was kept. The endemic orchids, balsam, fishes and wild relatives of cultivated crops of Anamalais were also kept to enlighten the wealth of our forests. At the end point of the gallery, anthropogenic pressures in wildlife areas along with the description of its impact were displayed for public awareness.

Special Focus

The special exhibition "Tiger- The flagship species" had 80 pictures of tigers with its different behaviour which depicting the lifestyle in wild. Beside photographs, the whole life history of tigers were in self explanatory form of write-ups e.g. origin, distribution, population, home range selection, physical characteristics, role in food chain, present status of problem, etc. The gallery had adequate amount of information about the need and role of charismatic species in maintaining the biodiversity of forests.

Wildlife documentary show

The documentary show was another highlight of the programme. The wildlife documentary films screening in common place was a never attempted programme in Coimbatore city. The films like Nagarhole and Point Calimere by Shekar Dattatri, Temple of tigers and Tiger Kill by Alphonse Roy, Wild dog diaries by Krupakar Senani attracted most of the audience. The issue based films Chittu, Mann, Noyyal and Mindless Mining created awareness about the reason for sparrow declination, soil pollution, water pollution and forest degradation. In a day, 5 times a film was screened in the theatre which accommodates 60 viewers.

Interaction Sessions

The interaction session organised with the Wildlife Experts was very useful to the public and students to know more about the forest and wildlife. The topics interacted and experts of the sessions were as follows:

• Fishes and amphibians of western ghats
  Dr. A. Manimekalan, Young Scientist - Dept. of Science and Technology
• Primates of western ghats
  Dr. R. Krishnamani, Managing Trustee, Rainforest Initiative.
• Living with elephants
  Dr. B. Ramakrishnan, Field Officer - Wildlife Trust of India
• Wildlife Photography
  Mr. C.R. Jayaprakash, Professor, PSG College of Arts & Science
• Birds in this universe
  Mr. B. Senthilmurugan, Biologist - Coimbatore Forest Division
• Wildlife census & trekking
  Mr. K.R. Karthikeyan, Environmentalist, Coimbatore.

Nature Conservation Awards

• Mr. A. C. Soundararajan for his Lifetime Achievement towards Wildlife and Nature Conservation
• Dr. B. Ramakrishnan for his contribution towards Wildlife Research
• Mr. K. J. Raju for his contribution towards Environmental Conservation (teacher category)
• Ms. M. Poornima for her active participation in Environmental Conservation Programmes and Initiatives (students category)
• Mr. A. Ramasamy for being an effective Field Guide in Wildlife Research
• Mr. Kovai Sathasivam for his contribution towards making wildlife documentary film

Valedictory

The valediction of Uyir Nizhal was performed on the eve of 12th October. The delegates participated in the programme was as follows:

Welcome Address

S. Thirukumaran, B.V.Sc.
Director
VOC Park Zoo, Coimbatore

Introduction of Award winners by

Mr. Avainayagan
Secretary
OSAI

Presided by

Mr. R. Venkatachalam
Worshipful Mayor
Coimbatore Corporation

Honouring the Photographers by

Dr. H. Basuvaraju, I.F.S.
Field Director
Anamalai Tiger Reserve

Felicitations by

Mr. N. Karthick
Deputy Mayor
Coimbatore Corporation

Mr. P. Govindaraj
Superintendent of Police
Central Jail, Coimbatore.

Dr. M. Padmanaban
Deputy Director, Dept. of Students Welfare
Bharathiar University, Coimbatore

Dr. V. Subramanian
Principal
SBOA Matric.Hr.Sec.School, Coimbatore

Vote of Thanks by

Mr. M. Ganesh
Vice President
OSAI

Appreciation

The enthusiastic contribution of each and every photographer was incredible. We are thankful to the Mr. Micheal J Vickers, Mr. Santosh Saligram and Mr. L.Shivakumar for their contribution of tiger photographs. The landscape photographs of Dr. R.Tolstoy and Mr. C. R.Jayaprakash were marvelous and add more colour to the gallery. The bird's portraits of Mr. T.R.A.Arunthavaselvan, Mr. V.Ramnarayanan, Mr. R.Vijayakumar and Mr. K.Maruthachalam were excellent. To encourage the young photographers, contribution of them was equally displayed with the professionals.

During the valedictory programme a Citation of Honor was bestowed upon the following photographers for their hard work and contribution of wonderful photographs:-

• Mr. T.R.A. Arunthavaselvan, Coimbatore.
• Mr. K. Rajagopal, Coimbatore.
• Mr. K. Maruthachalam, Photo Centre, Coimbatore.
• Mr. Michael J Vickers, United Kingdom.
• Mr. Kalyan Varma, Bangalore.
• Mr. Shekar Dattatri, Chennai.
• Mr. V. Ramnarayanan, Coimbatore.
• Mr. Santosh Saligram, Bangalore.
• Mr. L. Shivakumar, Bangalore.
• Mr. R. Arumugam, WWF-India, Coimbatore.
• Dr. A. Manimekalan, DST - Young Scientist.
• Dr. R. Tolstoy, PSG IMS, Coimbatore.
• Mr. C.R. Jayaprakash, PSG CAS, Coimbatore.
• Mr. R. Vijayakumar, Chennai.
• Mr. N. Ravikumar, WWF-India, Nilgiris.
• Mr. P. Balakrishnan, Salem.
• Mr. M. Mohankumar, Coimbatore.
• Mr. D. Dhandapani, Coimbatore.
• Mr. T. Muruganandam, Coimbatore.
• Mr. A. Prabhu Sahayaraj, Coimbatore.
• Mr. R. Krishnamurthy, Coimbatore.
• Mr. Dhaval Momaya, Coimbatore.
• Mr. J. Sakthivadivelan, Coimbatore.
• Mr. S. Srihari, Coimbatore.
• Mr. N. S. Achyuthan, Coimbatore
• Ms. C. Rathna Varshini, XII Std., G.D. Matric. School, Coimbatore.
• Ms. C. Saritha, VII Std., G.D. Matric. School, Coimbatore.
• Master. R. Gaurav, V Std., Vivekalaya Matric. School, Coimbatore.

Outcome

The Uyir Nizhal 2008 - Photographic Exhibition on Wildlife and Nature and Wildlife Documentary Film Show has a good reach among the people in revealing the wealth and prosperity of our forests.

People from various walks of life such as industrialists, advocates, doctors, teachers, business men, government and non-government personnel, researchers and nature enthusiasts visited the exhibition. The college and school students of Coimbatore, Erode and Nilgiris districts made use of this programme. Further, this year special guests viz., the Honorable State Minister of Rural Industries, Member of Legislative Assembly, Ex-Members of Parliament, The Conservator of Forest, Erode Circle, The District Forest Officer, Sathyamangalam, Former Vice Chancellor of Gandhigram University and eminent Industrialists of Coimbatore have also visited.

Nearly 25,000 people thronged to the exhibition. The feedback received from the spectators was incredible and were documented to assess the impact of this programme. On the whole, inscription of visitors expressed that the exhibition was very informative and knowledgeable to the growing generation. Many people showed their interest to volunteer themselves in our nature conservation programmes. Thus, this year's photographic exhibition has enlightened the minds of people about the need and importance of forests and its wildlife, which are the source of our livelihood. No doubt, this exhibition is a milestone in the nature conservation awareness campaign.

Acknowledgement

We have no words to express our heartfelt thanks to the contributors of the exhibition; such a wide reach was made possible merely with the support of them. We oblige our sincere thanks to The District Collector and The Conservator of Forests for inaugurating the Uyir Nizhal photographic exhibition. We also thank The Worshipful Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Coimbatore Corporation and Field Director, Anamalai Tiger Reserve, for honouring us by participating in the Valedictory of the exhibition. We are indebted to The President and Members of Rotary Club of Coimbatore Metropolis for joining hands for the fourth time and lending financial and moral support to the exhibition. We are grateful to the District Forest Officer, Coimbatore Forest Division for the financial assistance and encouragement to make this exhibition grand success.

We show our sincere gratitude to The Worshipful Mayor and The Commissioner of Coimbatore Corporation for permitting us to conduct the exhibition in VOC Park. We express our thanks to The Director, VOC Park Zoo for his prolonged co-operation since 2002, to conduct the exhibition every year. We thank for all the Medias who make the visitors threefold by their wide-ranging advertisement. Our indebt thanks to all individual donors, the members and volunteers of OSAI to accomplish the exhibition successfully.