In this phase of the programme, which will be for eighteen months we will try to consolidate the school projects on biodiversity conservation of four Kolkata schools and try to initiate a process of withdrawal in the schools that have exhibited a degree of sustainability of the school projects. We will work more intensively with the two Durgapur schools to improve their projects and try to create more awareness about biodiversity among the people of Durgapur. We will increase the geographical coverage of the programme to include a school in Howrah district. This school adjoins the Santragachi Jheel which is an important wetland for migratory birds. We will try to increase networking and sharing among the seven schools in the programme and promote networking with government and other agencies. A Biodiversity Workshop is planned at Durgapur to spread the message of biodiversity conservation among multiple stakeholders.

This is the second phase of the Programme where in each school we will work with a Core Group of 25 students of Class 7 or Class 8 and 2 or 3 teachers who will be the catalysts to include more students, teachers and community to promote biodiversity conservation. We will provide training to the new Core Groups of the seven schools through a slide illustrated talk, nature games, a local field trip and a visit to a Biodiversity Hotspot. This Core Group will then take forward the school projects with the assistance of technical and networking inputs provided by the Programme team. At the end of the Programme period, an evaluation by an external evaluator to find out the impact of our work and determine future course of action.

The Project Team consists of Diti Mookherjee as the Team Leader. The Resource Persons are Kushal Mookherjee, a well-known naturalist and has been working on environmental education and nature conservation for the last twenty-seven years and has been part of the Programme in the earlier stages and Susmita Basu, an expert in identification of flora and adept at training school students in biodiversity study. Indrajit Mullick joined us in Phase I of the Programme and will continue to be the Field Coordinator in this phase. Munna Bose, who has been has been working with Association for Social and Environmental Development (ASED) for the last three years, will be the Programme Assistant.