Outdoor Experiential Educational Programme (ANUBHAV) is planned to relocate the study of the environment to its rightful place enhancing the curriculum of classroom learning.  The outdoors become a living laboratory for the learners in understanding the elements of nature available in and around us. Inherent in ANUBHAV, then, is the desire to halt and watch, to study and to correlate what one sees with the milieu in which one finds it. To reinstate the study of nature into its rightful place is the aim of ANUBHAV.

Volunteers would be required assist our staff in accompanying these kids on nature camps and share their passion for the environment. It would give them a peek into a lot of pristine environments that most tourists miss out on. We have around 2-3 programs every month at various locations for students of different grades. Our camps are held at a variety of locations including Zainabad in The Little Rann of Kutch, Jambugodha Wildlife Sanctuary, Polo Forest and Mithapur. Expert guides are there to assist participants to enjoy activities like rock climbing, rappelling, river crossing, bird watching, star gazing etc. The camping activity also teaches about harmonious community living and living away from parents!

As a volunteer you would contribute in the following ways:

• Assist our staff on camping trips as Environmental educators
• Have a cheerful disposition and help children and guide them during their stay at camps
• Play environmental games with kids and carry out other fun-time activities

If you are skilled at adventure activities, you can assist them for the same.

Organized every year on the second Sunday of February with the motto of ‘Burn fat, not oil’, these marathon and cycling events get around 1500 participants. The motive behind this event is to spread environment awareness among the people and it veritably highlights the significance of exercise. It is a yearly program carried out by VNC to engage the entire community which would aid in sensitizing them towards environmental issues. Volunteers would help in organizing recruitment drives, finding sponsors, managing the event and helping in its promotion.

As a volunteer you would contribute to the following:

• Assist in organizing the event
• Think of creative ideas to help in promoting the event
• Find sponsors for the event
• Social media marketing

126 people die every day due to snakebites in India. This project aims to educate people about snakes, their probable habitat and the ways to avoid snakebites, thereby reducing the number of related deaths. The majority of these bites can be avoided with some basic precaution, education about proper first-aid and medical treatment. This can help bring down death rate, as too many people rely on home remedies & witchcraft, instead of going to the hospital.

As a volunteer you would contribute to the following:

• Help educating through mass awareness
• Help in creating educational materials such as pamphlets and posters
• Help in distributing educational leaflets
• Live snake demonstrations (Training will be provided)
• Rescue and rehabilitation (Training will be provided)
• Interview the local population and help in collecting the data

Trees in urban areas are essential as they clean the air, provide a natural flood defense, mask noise, calm traffic and promote a general sense of wellbeing. This makes trees one of the most important armories in urban living. Due to lack of proper protection, we have observed unregulated tree felling at wee hours and intentional damage being to trees. It becomes almost impossible to trace the culprits. All these reasons prompted us to map the trees and give them a unique identity. This map will be provided to local authorities for regulation & maintenance. This project is based on Citizen Science and calls for participation of people from various walks of life. These maps would be used for biannual monitoring, determine future need and run a diversity check. Volunteers would be required to assist our staff in geo-mapping of trees in and around Vidyanagar and in the collection of relevant data. They would also help in raising awareness for conservation of trees by carrying out promotional drives and programs.

Vultures are one of those unfortunate species that have seen a drastic reduction in their population in the last few decades. Awareness programs through Audio-Visual Mediums and distribution of awareness materials (Handouts and flyers) are carried out by VNC to create awareness amongst people about the plight of the vultures and the harmful effects of using diclofenac. Diclofenac is a common anti-inflammatory drug administered to livestock. The drug is fatal to vultures, however, and it is exposed to a mortal dose of diclofenac if it eats from the carcass of an animal that has been treated with diclofenac recently. Volunteers would be required to assist VNC volunteers and staff in conducting awareness programs and distributing educational hand-outs. It would provide the volunteers an invaluable chance to observe this endangered species with such close proximity, to understand the causes for its decline and mitigation measures needed to ensure its healthy survival.

Sarus, the tallest flying bird, is one of the iconic species of the open wetlands of Charotar region. They form long-lasting pair-bonds and maintain territories within which they perform territorial and courtship displays that include loud trumpeting, leaps, and dance-like movements. In India, they are considered symbols of marital fidelity, believed to mate for life and pine the loss of their mates even to the point of starving to death.  However, they have been listed as a vulnerable species in IUCN’s red list. Its population has greatly declined in the last century, it is one-tenth of what it used to be in the 1850s. However, India is its stronghold, where they survive in agricultural lands in close proximity with humans and are revered by the local community which ensures its conservation. This project aims to understand its distribution and to implement proactive measures to aid in its conservation. Volunteers would get a unique opportunity to observe this endangered species closely in its natural habitat and help towards conserving it by participating in awareness programs.

Interested to volunteer for an environmental cause but commitments stop you? Join us a virtual volunteer to do your bit. Use your skills and valuable time to save mother nature.  Online volunteers do not need to travel, and have a great degree of flexibility in volunteering the hours that fit their schedule.

As a virtual volunteer you can do the following:

• Follow VNC on FB, Twitter and Instagram. Promote, re-tweet and share our posts for maximum penetration. Post your activities through photographs and videos.
• Plant a tree. Build a fence and take care of it. Keep photographic record of its progress. Inspire neighbours and family members to do the same.
• Grow some herb to use in the kitchen. If you have a backyard,  grow some vegetables or fruits. Try to grow your own food and become self-sufficient. Make the most of your garden.
• Build a bird house and a bird feeder. Install it near your place. Observe and record photographic evidence.
• Use your imagination and creativity to re-use or re-cycle things to create some useful object. Make a video and share it with us.
• Organize a fundraiser and awareness program in your community, school or college. Present through powerpoint presentations. Design a donation box and collects funds.
• No fees required for Virtual Volunteers.