22nd May 2013: The International Day for Biological Diversity with the theme ‘Water and Biodiversity” was celebrated at Babesa Middle Secondary School, Serbithang, Thimphu. The half-day event included a quiz, speech and art competitions between the different house groups and different classes. The participatory event saw many students express themselves through an impressive array of art on ‘water and biodiversity’. The event concluded with cash prizes awarded to the winners. A series of other activities carried out to celebrate the day included, essay writing and art competitions on the current theme by students from across the country and the composition of song on agrobiodiversity. The winners of the essay and art competitions were also declared and the results will be made available shortly on National Biodiversity Center (NBC) and Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MOAF) websites.
This was the first time that the International Day of Biological Diversity was celebrated with a school in order to nurture the seed of conservation in the hearts and minds of our young children so that they will love, respect and conserve nature for the benefit of the country and the future generations. The positive and pro-active response from the school and the students in the celebration of International Biodiversity Day signaled the importance of working with young minds and fostering more interactive programs on biodiversity as part of the initiative to raise awareness on biodiversity in the country.
The event was coordinated by National Biodiversity Centre, MoAF in collaboration with Babesa Middle Secondary School with funding support from South East Asia Regional Initiative for Community Empowerment (SEARICE), Bioversity International and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).
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