We all enjoy the natural beauty of Gavier lake but it takes a lot of labor and hard work to keep it free of invasive plants. Each year the lake gets covered with aquatic vegetation. It is very important to keep this weeds under control otherwise the natural balance of wetland is lost. Nature Club has started removal of invasive vegetation from the water. To help, we the students of grade 11 have taken this initiative to pull out weeds on Sundays. Generally, we have to get the remaining work done with the help of paid labor which usually cost up to one lakh Rs.  

Some of the goals include –

• To help the environment and birds by cleaning the lake.
• To develop skills of coordination, perseverance, and commitment.

L2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken developing new skills

During this activity, we faced a lot of challenges. Firstly, people were not very energetic at the start as we did this weed cleaning on Sunday mornings and it was very difficult to pull out the number of weeds with less energy. However, we made 2 teams and played one competition where the one whose chunk of weeds is more wins the competition. This generated enthusiasm for them to win so everybody started to work seriously with full energy which helped us clean a greater part of the lake than which was expected. Secondly, the weeds looked peculiar so some of my friends were not ready to pull the weeds out with their hand, however, there was no solution for this difficulty, We did not do anything and gradually they understood and started to pull the weeds out with full enthusiasm.

L3-  Initiate and plan a CAS experience

There were many people who wanted to execute this activity and this activity cannot be done single-handedly. So all of us together decided to do this activity together and also call some more people to help us clean the lake. We executed this activity through the Nature club and so all the tools which were required were provided by them and we just had to gather at the Gavier lake. Gradually, I understood that communication was very important. One of our friends did not know that we were not going the next day and he reached the gavier lake so this is a communication gap. If our communication had been stronger than we would have prevented this mishap. We also require skills like how to row a boat, how to swim and also how to balance the boat. These skills help us in cleaning the lake proficiently.

 L4- Commitment to and perseverance

Pulling out the weeds required a lot of commitment and perseverance as it was a labour work and the sun was out when we were pulling the weeds out. The whole lake was covered with the weeds and it was very tedious and slow work to do. One commitment required was that everybody should do this activity with keenness so as to be effective in nature and to be quick. As we kept on losing the enthusiasm, we parted ourselves and then we had some people resting while the others working in the lake. Next moment the ones who were working come and rest and the others start their work. This way we were able to maintain the keenness and ensure the effectiveness of this activity.

L6- Engagement with issues of global significance

It is essential to keep at least 50% of the water surface free of vegetation so that birds which dive into the water to catch fish and ducks which dive underwater to graze on aquatic vegetation gets open water. Also the migratory ducks which arrive in winter needs open patch of water to land and take off. Since this issue is on a huge scale and is affecting the bird community it is said to be globally significant.

First I thought weed cleaning was pretty simple and easy job to do but after doing the activity I understood how much hard work is required to pull the weeds out. This activity also helped me extend my knowledge about migratory birds. I felt really amazing when I saw the difference between before and after the activity was finished.