Dragonfly Festival

• The first-ever State Dragonfly Festival, also known as Thumbimahotsavam 2020 will be organized in Kerala jointly by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-India State unit and Society for Odonate Studies (SOS).
• It will be the part of National Dragonfly Festival being organized by the WWF India, Bombay Natural History Society & Indian Dragonfly Society,
• The third edition of the National Dragonfly Festival was organized online in August 2020.
• It aims at building awareness about the importance of dragonflies and damselflies and the need to conserve them.
• Dragonflies act as important bio-indicators of the ecological health of an area.
• The festival will consist of training resource persons, webinars, and competitions.
• The festival will also provide an opportunity for people to undertake citizen science projects in their backyards during Covid-19 restrictions.
• Some specific target groups for this festival include zoology teachers, members of biodiversity management committees, eco-clubs, the Forest Department, people from ecotourism activities, etc.

Society for Odonate Studies (SOS)

• SOS is a non-political, non-profit organization formed to impart knowledge to the public on the insect order of Odonata (which comprises dragonflies and damselflies) and to conduct scientific studies, with the objective of conservation of the species and their habitats.