Youth Speaker entry #27: Gnana Swamy (India)

I am founder of a Youth organisation SIGNA. SIGNA stands for Student Ideal & Guide for Nature Awareness. Me and some of mine friends started SIGNA eight years ago, since from beginning we are working with youth to build youth leadership to protect our forest and biodiversity.

In SIGNA we sensitise and teach young students about sustainability and Gandhian ways of environment conservation and protection. We have unique methodology to involve young students in this process , SIGNA members visits colleges and shows documentaries and films on nature , and organise interaction , discussion ,competition . Once students involved in SIGNA they were sensitised by various methods like showing films, give them a book to read and they interacted with local leaders and activist and Scientist. In SIGNA we take students to mining area and thick forest area like Western Ghats by this method they upgrade their knowledge on forest and they learnt importance of Biodiversity.

When students were fully involved in SIGNA we do orientation camps on green living, green livelihood, sustainable development, ecology and Biodiversity. Those who completed these camps we will take them leadership building camp , the students those finished this level they fully involves in SIGNA do activism against illegal mining and deforestation for development purpose . We inculcate young minds to practice of preserving nature for tomorrow.

The biodiversity in the local ecology has been very rich; the organisation has been continuously enriching knowledge among students in this line. SIGNA students has been campaigned against illegal mining and deforestation, they organised and mobilised people to conserve our forest.

Young students of SIGNA planted more than lake plants in mining area, and villages affected by mining. They planted trees in college campus and cities. They built youth team in that area to care those plants. With network of NCPNR (National committee for protection of Natural Resources ), NAPM ( National alliance of people’s movement ) and also Save western Ghats committee SIGNA students formed group of farmers, the SIGNA students enrich farmers knowledge by teaching and sensitise them to grow agro forestry, sustainable agriculture and organic forming .

Text, photo and video are submitted by Gnana Swamy (India) – signna(at)gmail.com

The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.

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This post is published as an application by the author, to speak as a youth representative at the World Forestry Congress. Have a look at the other entries too!

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