A WALK INTO THE RAINFOREST

March 27, 2020

A WALK INTO THE RAINFOREST

SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES

Project by ANJALI HRISHIKESAN ( FP-04) and RIYA MALHOTRA (FP-06)

Distribution of work:-

Anjali : Initial ideation ; animal illustrations (references were taken - www.natgeokids.com ) ; human illustrations ( reference taken from www.barewalls.com) ; compilation

Riya : Plant illustrations (references were taken from google) ; research

For our Sustainability Studies end term project, we were asked to work on a topic that inspired us. We were very intrigued when Dr. Amrita ma’am taught us about biomes and how different species of flora and fauna sustain in different climatic conditions. Our initial idea was to make a children’s book on creating awareness about Tropical Rain forests, we have made the visuals for the children's book (ages 6-10) as well as analysis of what the book aims to achieve. Children are our future, what values we teach them at their young age is what they will take with them till they are adults. If we create awareness about wildlife conservation starting from their childhood, perhaps they will be more sensitized towards taking care of the environment.

"A walk into the rainforest" is a children's book aiming towards sensitizing children to the environment and Mother Nature. The story is set in the rain forest and it revolves around a group of superheroes that protect the forest from enemies that want to take advantage of the forest and its resources. The gang of superheroes is led by a child- Chetan who along with his friends- Jaguar, Macaw and Orangutan.

It was a chaos. The Jaguar was hopping around the forest, the Macaw was sitting on his favorite branch waiting for everyone to listen to her. Orangutan was picking things around and throwing them, let’s just say that no rock was in a single piece anymore. Contrary to this whole scene, nature was crying in the corner, and no one was paying attention to her. In a word to describe each of these friends, Jaguar was the naughty one, Macaw the smart one, Orangutan the strong one and Chetan- the leader. It was only when the human boy- Chetan yelled at everyone that they started to hear him out. And the meeting of the protectors of the rainforest commenced. The Protectors now paid attention to nature for they were deeply worried for their best friend, according to whom a few humans were coming to destroy her. News travels fast in the rainforest. As for the problem at hand, they decided to prepare for what was to come. The meeting was hence dismissed.

The leader trees- Roman, Kapok and Rubber were heard crying by the local trees and animals the next day. Alarmed, the Protectors went to see for themselves what the issue was, for it was now upon them to work as a team and help nature in the best way that they could. Upon arriving near the leader trees, they could see them wailing uncontrollably. News spread fast that two evil humans had entered the forest illegally and were now looking for the leader trees to cut them and take them home for money and other resources. The trees were scared. They did not want to leave their home, their land, that they love so much. The beautiful chirping of birds, the buzzing of insects and the growls of animals is what made them feel safe, this was their family, and they were going to be uprooted from it- quite literally. But the Protectors swore to not let that happen, not on their watch. They could see them, finally the villains that they have been fearing since the last few days made an appearance. The rumors were true after all, the evil humans were there to take the precious trees away from the rainforest.

“Sir, look! There they are. I see Rubber, Kapok and Roman. We finally got the rainforest treasures; we will finally become rich. Yes!” exclaimed Robert, the tall assistant standing beside the man with the map. Their idea was to cut the three trees and sell them on the market for a very high price and become rich, after all they had the monopoly. Little did they know that the Protectors won’t allow it. As soon as the men charged towards the tree, the Protectors got their work hats on and came forward. The men thought the scene before them was quite funny. One kid along with a few animals behind him? What could they do, they couldn't stop them from harming the trees. And oh boy were they wrong. The Protectors unleashed their powers on the men and chased them away from the forest one by one. Fighting one evil a day. There is nothing you can not do if you stand together with your friends. The trees thanked the Protectors, for they were able to protect not only them, but also the whole forest. They had actually done the world a huge favor, because a tree cut here and three trees cut there is such a grave offense that one might not realize at the moment. And as a thank you gift, the trees singularly gave each Protector a gift.

Nature gives back to you if you protect it. Nature has so beautiful and amazing things to offer and we need to learn to cherish it, and not overuse it, if we are to enjoy all these services that it gives. Think of Nature as your best friend, you would never intentionally hurt your best friend would you? The more you help each other out, the more your bond strengthens.If you have nature’s back then nature will have yours. Wildlife is an essential part of our Earth. We simply cannot sustain without animals. That is why you need to think of yourself as a team member, with wildlife and nature being your teammates. One wrong step on your side and the whole team sinks. We need to learn how to co-exist.

What we have read time and time again is that overpopulation is the reason why we are having so many problems- deforestation, climate change, etc. But that’s where we’re wrong. Overpopulation isn’t the real problem. The real problem is the few percent of people that are greedy, the rich wanting more of what they already have. Like the two men who entered the rainforest in order to take advantage of the trees that provide benefits. Rain forests produce 20% of the oxygen that people on this Earth breathe. About 25% of medicines we use come from plants in the rainforest. Your favorite chocolates, the nutritious bananas, rubber and coffee that you use every day, the tasty coconut and a lot more items is what is offered by the rainforest to us. The least we could do is help conserve and protect the environment that gives us so much where we give nothing to them in return, nothing but destruction.

This subject has opened our eyes to real life problems that pose threat to us but we often choose to overlook it. But now that we are aware of it, we must try our hardest to not become a part of the problem, rather we must aim towards fighting towards it.

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