Highlights:
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| Nature game to explain conservation, at Durgapur |
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| Eco-friendly Ganesh idols made by students of Kohoka |
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| Eco-friendly Ganesh celebration with Niranjan at Kohoka school |
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| An injury being treated at our free health camp at Mohgaon |
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| Farmers with a bird perch installed by us in a paddy field for eco-friendly pest management |
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| Vegetable garden at Potiya school |
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| Field Assistant Niranjan repairing a faulty biogas stove in Turia |
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| The area around the handpump at Tuyepani, after the overgrown wild plants were cleared |
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| Plastic litter clean-up drive at Tuyepani |
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| Field Assistant Kamlesh briefs students on a nature trail at Doodhgaon |
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| Environment education program at Potiya school |
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| Personality development program for guides of the tiger reserve |
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| Dr Zanzal treats patients at our free health camp at Chirrewani |
THE FULL REPORT
Team
Conservation Officer – Sumit Kumar Kar
Field Assistant – Niranjan Hinge (Turiya cluster)
Field Assistant– Kamlesh Pawar (Khamarpani cluster)
Major highlights of the month
Major highlights of the month
·
Mobile
Health service camps at 6 villages - 261 patients treated
·
Kitchen
gardens set up at 2 Government middle schools
·
Eco-friendly
Ganesh idol-making and awareness program attended by 23 students
·
Nature
guide personality development training attended by 34 guides at Turiya
·
Awareness
session on snakes attended by 32 students
·
SHG
meetings at Turiya and Kundai for implementation of new ideas
·
Environment
education program at 9 schools attended by 294 students
·
Anti-plastic
rally at Thuyepani and wildlife conservation rally at Ambadi
·
Two
nature trails at Durgapur and Doodhgaon attended by 25 students
·
Bird perch installation at paddyfield
·
Plantation
activities by school children in which 76 saplings were planted
·
2
biogas units repaired
·
Soak
pit construction through voluntary work project at Thuyepani
On September 8, we organised a program to set up a kitchen garden at Government Middle School, Potiya. The garden was set up by the students and teacher of the school with the assistance of Niranjan and Sumit. The students were split into groups to clean the area for the garden, making the garden bed and fencing. After construction of the garden beds, seeds of coriander, fenugreek, spinach, tomato, chilli, and brinjal were sown followed by irrigation. A similar activity was performed by Kamlesh at Thuyepani.
As
part of the celebration of Ganesh festival, we organised a program for 23
students of Government Middle School, Kohoka to teach them to make eco-friendly
idols. The activity started with an awareness session on the consequences of wide-scale PoP (Plaster of Paris) idol
immersion in water bodies and ways to mitigate the problem through idol making
from clay and natural colors. The
activity was performed in groups in which the students prepared idols from clay
and subsequently coloured them with
natural colours such as turmeric.
The
Ganesh festival is celebrated across India. It lasts 10 days and culminates
with the immersion of idols of the deity in water bodies. As many idols are
made of artificial materials and chemicals-based colours, the immersion leaves
water bodies polluted, affecting both humans and animals. Eco-friendly idols
made of clay and natural colours go a long way in reducing this pollution.
Birds such
as Drongo and Indian roller help farmers reduce the pest intensity in their fields and hence reduce the cost of
insecticides needed as well as the impact of chemicals on nature. To harness
this beneficial relationship between birds and farmers, perch sites for birds
were placed in paddy fields at Potia
village. The farmers were made aware of the usefulness of the activity by
Niranjan and were encouraged to install such structures to increase the visits of insect-eating birds.
On
September 4, Niranjan organised a plantation program with 26 school
students of Kohoka and Potiya in which a total of 76 saplings were planted. The
saplings were earlier prepared by the students under our guidance from seeds of
local plants.
On
September 4, Kamlesh motivated a group of villagers at Thuyepani to volunteer
for a voluntary work project program for construction of a soak pit near a hand
pump. The hand pump is widely used by villagers and cattle for drinking
purposes and in the absence of a proper soak pit,
there was water stagnation. The soak pit
constructed by the team will helps in percolation of waste water. The activity was aimed at reducing the proliferation
of flies and mosquitoes, thereby decreasing the risk
of disease contraction due to insect vectors and their subsequent transfer to
wildlife.
On
September 4, Kamlesh motivated a group of villagers at Thuyepani to volunteer
for a voluntary work project program for construction of a soak pit near a hand
pump. The hand pump is widely used by villagers and cattle for drinking
purposes and in the absence of a proper soak pit,
there was water stagnation. The soak pit
constructed by the team will helps in percolation of waste water. The activity was aimed at reducing the proliferation
of flies and mosquitoes, thereby decreasing the risk
of disease contraction due to insect vectors and their subsequent transfer to
wildlife.
On 23rd September, Kamlesh organised a nature trail for school children at Doodhgaon in which he described the various birds found in the vicinity of the village and also provided information on the identification of major tree species. On 30th September, Niranjan also conducted a nature trail in Durgapur village in which the children learned about bird watching.
Repair of defective biogas units was done by Niranjan at Turiya on 24th and 28th September at the houses of Mr. Tilak Deshmukh and Mr. Kundlik Rao respectively.
An anti-plastic rally was organised by Kamlesh on 12th September in which students went around the village chanting slogans and collecting plastic litter along the way. Niranjan also conducted an awareness rally at Ambadi on 26th September in which 28 students participated.
Repair of defective biogas units was done by Niranjan at Turiya on 24th and 28th September at the houses of Mr. Tilak Deshmukh and Mr. Kundlik Rao respectively.
An anti-plastic rally was organised by Kamlesh on 12th September in which students went around the village chanting slogans and collecting plastic litter along the way. Niranjan also conducted an awareness rally at Ambadi on 26th September in which 28 students participated.
Environment
Education program
On September 5, as part of our education program, a session on the importance of honey bees was conducted at Government Middle School, Kohoka. The impact of widespread use of insecticides on honeybee population was explained to the students by Sumit. The unique eusocial behavior of honeybees was also explained. Sumit also told the students how they could help in saving honeybees.
Employment Cell
Training programs
A personality development training session for guides was conducted on 23rd September at Turiya. The resource person for the session was Mr. Sandip Chowdhury, eco-tourism consultant. The session was attended by 34 guides registered at Turiya gate and covered topics such as basics of human interaction and mannerisms, best practices in guest handling including storytelling, ego-management and communication rules. The training had interactive elements including role-playing session and demonstrative activities. Niranjan, Sumit and Abhijit assisted the resource person in conducting the activities during the training session.
Kamlesh and Sumit held a discussion session with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) team at Khamarpani under the Ajeevika program. Our team discussed the area of operations of Satpuda Foundation with the NRLM team and requested them to establish Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the 12 villages of Khamarpani cluster where we work. The NRLM team proceeded with the establishment of 3 SHGs at Kundai with inputs from our team.
Kamlesh organised a training/awareness session at the Jai Ambe SHG at Kundai on the 27th and provided information on the various government training programs of institutes such Rural Self-Employment training Institute (RSETI), Chhindwara and also discussed the feasibility of a soap-making venture, highlighting the success story of a similar SHG at Sarni.
Niranjan and Sumit also attended a meeting with Shristhi SHG at Turiya on 16th September and discussed a cloth bag making venture (a prototype cloth bag was made by one of the members) and also a plan to open a tea stall near Turiya safari gate which will serve herbal and organic teas.
Mobile
Health Service (MHS)
Six
medical camps were organised in which 261 patients were treated.
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