Kanniyakumari Nature Foundation (KNF) story
Vinod and I loved nature travelling but our core concentration is to get involved in environmental conservation activities. If a couple is dedicated to the same interest, they will open a company or NGO in that line of interest. But we thought there are so many organizations already working on conservation activities, so we decided to do some volunteering instead of opening another one non-profit organization.
We were moving to different locations in India and we tried to volunteer in wildlife related activities wherever possible. In 2022 due to personal reasons we moved to Nagercoil, our hometown. We had started to explore the forest regions in Nagercoil and attended bird surveys in Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin districts. We did many volunteering works for other NGOs.
Slowly, we came to know few personalities around this area who were concerned about the environment. With the encouragement of likeminded people we decided to initiate a NGO to work on environmental related activities. After giving much thought and research we decided to create an organization.
Within a month, selecting auditor, naming the organization, creating bank accounts kind of activities got kicked off. Soon we were busy with various environment related projects. In a short span of time, we had accomplished many projects and surveys along with the Forest Department.
Here are few of the activities we did as Kanniyakumari Nature Foundation.
- Tree Mapping Project
- Biodiversity Assessment
- Wetland Bird Survey
- Forest Bird Survey
- Turtle Conservation Project
- Spider Survey
- Tree Planting in Government Schools
- Butterfly awareness program in schools
- Bird watching field program for school children
- Botanical walk for Botany college students
- Creating butterfly garden in schools
- Bat roosting map
We are also maintaining a website www.knf-india.in to share environmental details of Kanniyakumari district and in general. We are conducting periodic quizzes and competitions which are shared in the website.
So with all the activities in hand, our travelling got limited but conservation efforts got started. We are also involved in few research works related to beach profiling.
We will continue our travelling whenever we get time but our main focus is to get involved in environmental conservation activities in Kanniyakumari district.
