OMCAR Palk Bay Environmental Education Centre Camps
Coastal ecology fieldwork skills
Two-day residential coastal ecology camp at OMCAR's Palk Bay centre, arranged with schools and groups rather than booked by individual families.
Mode
In-Person
Eligibility
Grade 1 to 12
Fee
Free
Duration
Two days with an overnight stay
Format
Team · Teams of 50
Time needed
A single residential visit of two days
Eligibility
- Grade level
- Grade 1 to 12
- Location
- Nationwide
Camps are arranged with schools, colleges and other institutions rather than booked by individual families, and government schools are given priority. OMCAR publishes no age or grade band for the camp; the one camp with published details hosted students aged twelve to fourteen, and the centre describes its programmes as serving students of all ages.
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Benefits
- Two days living and learning at a working marine field centre
- Guided mangrove walk and beach seagrass session
- Scuba demonstration in a tank with hands-on equipment
- Museum of local shells, fishes and crabs
- Nursery planting and solar cooker practice
Skills your child builds
Key dates
- Enrollment
- Open all year
OMCAR Palk Bay Environmental Education Centre, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
How to apply
- 1A school, college or institution writes to OMCAR at the centre's email address
- 2Agree the dates and the size of the group with the centre
- 3Travel to the Palk Bay centre at Velivayal for the two-day stay
About this opportunity
The OMCAR Foundation runs two-day residential nature camps at its Palk Bay Environmental Education Centre on the Tamil Nadu coast, where students stay overnight and study mangrove, seagrass and coastal ecosystems.
Camps extend the centre's one-day programme, and because students stay they spend longer in the field. Activities documented at the centre include a scuba demonstration in a tank where students handle the buoyancy control device and regulator, a guided walk to the local mangroves, a beach session where staff explain the seagrass ecosystem by drawing it in the sand, a presentation of local habitats using the centre's own photographs and video, a museum of shells, fishes and crabs, and planting seedlings in the nursery. Students can also cook with solar cookers and use eco-friendly paddle pumps.
The centre opened in 2011 and has a conference hall, a dining hall, a museum, a laboratory and a common hall that lodges fifty people overnight. Camps are arranged with schools, colleges and other institutions rather than booked by individual families, and OMCAR states that it provides its environmental education, training and awareness work to students without charge. Government schools are given priority for the centre's education programmes.
Camp details
OMCAR Palk Bay Environmental Education Centre
Trainers
Led by OMCAR Foundation staff including the Director, a marine biologist, and the centre's scientific officer and field coordinator.
Facilities
Activities
- Scuba demonstration in a tank
- Guided walk to the local mangroves
- Beach session on the seagrass ecosystem
- Museum of local shells, fishes and crabs
- Planting seedlings in the nursery
Academic details
Difficulty: Introductory
What's covered
Students study mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs, see the underwater equipment used to collect ecological data, examine samples of gastropods, fish and plankton from the Palk Bay coast, and practise nursery and tree plantation techniques.
Frequently asked questions
Can a family book a place for one child?
No individual or family booking route is published. Every documented group has been a school, college, NGO or government agency, and there is no registration form on the centre's website. A parent interested in this centre would raise it with their child's school.
Is the camp residential?
Yes. The centre describes nature camps as running over two days during which children stay, and its brochure states that the centre can lodge fifty people overnight in a common hall. Accommodation is dormitory style rather than separate rooms.
Is there a fee?
OMCAR states that its environmental education, training, awareness and research support for students is provided without charge, and it gives visiting school groups a free lunch. No price appears anywhere on the centre's website.
When do camps run?
There is no published calendar. Camps are arranged directly with visiting institutions according to availability, and the centre's camps page is a photo archive of past editions rather than a list of upcoming ones.
What do students actually do at the centre?
Documented activities include a scuba demonstration in a tank where students handle the buoyancy control device and regulator, a guided mangrove walk, a beach session on the seagrass ecosystem, a presentation on local habitats, a museum of shells, fishes and crabs, and planting seedlings in the nursery.
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