Wandering on the verge of extinction are the gentlest species nature ever gifted with life, and not a few. And we are to blame.
Forging through the sixth extinction crisis we are almost wholly responsible for, a planet aches for the creatures that are lost day by day. It is evident, that every year, mother Earth loses ten thousand of species. Dig deeper into the apostrophized concern and youβll see, human, the so-called most intelligent of all, has used the role of the apex predator in the dumbest, most egocentric way possible. That being said, we, our rapacity, our fickle entitlement wrote the script to a universal tragedy firsthand, intruding natureβs web of life, and devil dancing in it. The optimistic facet of the scenario is that we are possessing the brains to write universal scripts like that, meaning we can write happy endings too.
It was high time we drip this tragedy on the foreground and aim the spotlights unto it. Only the young have guts to step on daring stones of hope, and grinning to the trial, for the wild love for the wild, emerged S.A.F.E. aka Save Animals From Endangerment, yet another brilliant and astute initiative of the Rotaract Club of Faculty of Science, University of Colombo.
Blossoming in the Environmental Avenue of the club, S.A.F.E. opened up its petals in three major phases, each having a reason, clear as the crystal blue sky.
Taking off with the βDid you knowβ post series, vibrant, informative, and striking as it can be, S.A.F.E. heisted its opening flags to the community. The series captured one-of-a-kind traits of many endangered species in Sri Lanka, and elaborated their unseen beauty, but also their torture and suffering numbers in the hands of ruthless humans with egomaniac desires. The intention was to spread awareness because awareness is the beginning of saving. Our team was gifted with passionates with tremendous love for nature, and all this love came out in softcopies, making the outputs out of this world.
Our subtle movement was making leaps, slowly burning out the zoophilist hearts, and we knew itβs time we open up the doors for them to more knowledge, more approach, and expert insight to our subject, because they were ready for it, like never before. We needed professional aid at this moment in our S.A.F.E. timeline, and since itβs conversations that fire up conservation, talking was necessary. And thatβs how we moved into the grandest conservation event of an era β The Roundtable Talk.
While the stage was being set inside, we never hesitated to shower our lovers of the wild with gifts. We launched our super fun Instagram challenge, a giveaway under the theme of conservation, and we make this a moment to honor and remember all our gift partners and sponsors for their kind and amazing collaboration, with all our hearts. Our giveaway kicked off for three entire days, with hundreds participating in our challenge. And our biggest night was getting closer and closer.
Our S.A.F.E. team got lucky all the time, well that must be admitted. B.E.E.Z. collaborated with us, and shared all our weight in this phase, and we pay our loving tribute to them at this moment. We wanted the best of the best in our roundtable because we had this silent promise in our hearts to cut the smoothest roads to those who trusted in our quest, and we had many. Professor Sarath Kotagama, Professor Turney Pradeep, Professor Sampath Senevirathne, and Miss Michelle Dilhara were ready to acquaint our mindsets in the best possible path to the lands of conservation, making our dream of reaching the best of the best come true. The S.A.F.E. Roundtable talk was a phenomenon. Hundreds of enthusiasts met the experts that night, and the passion they exhibited during the event epitomized a glimpse of the burning flames of the backbone, the youth, of an entire nation for the love for the wild, and that zeal calmed our fears. We saw that night βhopeβ, a quite mesmerizing participant, sitting and smiling, amongst our many.
After providing our zoophilist community plenty of time to absorb the essence of The Roundtable Talk, we geared up to the final phase of our promise of conservation, the Bestiary Tales. The article series was a bittersweet gesture, inventing a whole new genre of bedtime tales for the animal lovers, bitter, because all of them were about marvelous creatures that are on the edge of extinction, sweet, because of many reasons. Bestiary tales, opened up in chapters, penned by volunteers with great love for nature, and the specialty β all these writings unfolded in the point of view of the creature, making Bestiary Tales one of the most daring efforts ever made. The articles tugged the heartstrings of many, and the impact will age like fine wine, if not, only better.
S.A.F.E. wrapped up with the iconic Bestiary Tales making 2021 a year to those who among us with great love for nature, making good hope for wildlife rain everywhere. But it will never ever have been possible without the guidance of Binuri akki, Ishara akki, and Dewmini akki. Their loving guidance is why we are here. Also remembering the S.A.F.E. team, the all-rounders, they are one of the hardest working teams of humans one will ever know, passionate and hopeful about their work, and always with smiles.
Adding last moment thoughts about our course, humans cannot undo what has been done, and we must admit we have already lost so much, and itβs all our fault. We have no power over the past. But the present is all yours and mine. We are the young, and if thereβs somebody who can change the course of things it’s us because the script of the future is written by us. So donβt give up on them, they need us now, more than ever. Itβs our quest, to their calling.
Donβt let that wild love for the wild die, for where there is love, there is life.
By Rtr. Udari De Silva
S.A.F.E. π