Aizawl, July 12: Notorious for hunting birds and small wildlife with their slingshots and airguns, children of rural Mizoram are mending their ways. On Saturday, 349 schoolchildren of Sihphir Vengthar village, about 20 km from Aizawl, pledged in public not to target wildlife.
These children, from the primary to high school level, collectively promised to ?protect the environment and wildlife with utmost effort?.
The ceremony was organised jointly by the forest department and the Young Mizo Association (YMA) branch of the village. The Sihphir Vengthar chapter of the YMA is the first non-governmental organisation to develop a wildlife sanctuary in Mizoram. Former forest minister Lalchamliana inaugurated it in 2002.
To encourage the children to stick to their promise, forest and education minister R. Lalthangliana awarded certificates to the students, while Aizawl divisional forest officer Hmingdailova gave them Rs 100 each.
?You are making a great contribution to the whole of society. If all of us follow your example, we can turn our state into a paradise,? the forest minister told the children.
He used Biblical references to emphasise the importance of protecting the environment. ?God made the first man, Adam, a forest guard in the Garden of Eden. Likewise, we have been entrusted to guard our garden, Mizoram.?
The minister granted the children?s request for an excursion to the state zoo and the Dampa and Murlen wildlife sanctuaries.
Honorary wildlife warden Vanneihtluanga reminded the children that hunting birds or wildlife for their meat was an offence.