Wetland walks

Thiruvananthapuram's Vellayani-Punchakkari wetland turns into a climate classroom to help people learn about local biodiversity, agriculture and practices that harm them

- By REMA SUNDAR

AT 7 AM on a sunny Sunday, a group of 40 to 50 college students eagerly trudge along the banks of Vellayani, the largest freshwater lake in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. For five hours, this group learns about the biodiversity, spots flocks of birds, and even gives one of them a name. "It is a fun game, sometimes a bird is named after a trending movie," says Gokul Krishna A. Krishna is the founding director of Climatehood, a Thiruvananthapuram-based nonprofit that focuses on education programmes and initiatives for climate awareness and action. Since 2019, the organisation has been holding a "wetland schooling" programme at the Vellayani-Punchakkari wetland from November to March, when migratory birds visit the area. A 2-3 km-long route is covered in the session, for which each participant pays a nominal fee of ₹100-150. More than 3,000 people have participated so far.