T’puram: The forest department is planning a scheme to incorporate traditional knowledge about nature and wildlife in the curriculum and offer grace marks to encourage school students to become nature’s ambassadors, said minister Shibu Baby John on Tuesday.At the launch of the social forestry wing’s podcast series titled ‘Wild 100: 100 Voices for Nature’, he said that social forestry in schools and nature clubs will be reorganised into conservatory clubs and grace marks can be given just as they are given for sports. The series features 100 experts covering 100 nature-related topics such as forests, wildlife, biodiversity, climate change, rivers, oceans, indigenous traditional knowledge, environmental history and sustainable development.John said the initiative is part of the department’s efforts to ensure people’s participation to curb human-wildlife conflicts. He said the department plans to harness tribal knowledge, promote smart agriculture using crops such as turmeric, ginger and lemongrass that are less attractive to wildlife, provide alternative livelihood options for people living along forest fringes and take other steps to minimise human-wildlife conflicts.In Kumily, tribal communities cultivate turmeric and their experience is that elephants do not enter these areas. Oorali community at Vanchivayal in Kumily, which grows pepper and exports it to Germany, is a model for others, he added.He said there were plans to hold talks with farmers to encourage them to offer limited accommodation in their homes to trekkers, bikers and tourist groups. “Everyone has a responsibility to protect nature and it should not be restricted to the department. It can be achieved through cooperation from farmers and through coexistence,” he said.Families living in human-wildlife conflict zones face severe stress. The department envisions conservation efforts that involve tribal communities and farmers living along forest fringes. Indigenous communities and earlier generations mitigated such conflicts by coexisting with wildlife and living in harmony with nature, he added.John said an international nature film festival would be held in Jan to showcase Kerala’s biodiversity globally through photography, films, videos, tribal art and other forms of creative expression.
