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| Dr Zanzal examines a patient at our free medical camp at Aamajhiri |
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| Awarghani - Members of tribal dance group perform at Olive Resort |
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| Bisenpur - Our colleague Sumit discusses conservation and livelihood issues with members of the EDC |
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| Chirrewani - Our colleague Kamlesh teaches students how to prepare a leaf book and tree atlas |
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| Doodhgaon - Our colleague Sumit explains the role of spiders to students on a nature trail |
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| Our colleague Niranjan explains the role of termites to students on a nature trail |
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| Karmajhiri - Our colleague Niranjan guides students playing a nature game |
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| Karmajhiri - Our colleague Sumit speaks to students about common birds found in Pench |
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| Karmajhiri - Students learn about birds through a presentation during the nature camp |
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| Kohoka - Students and their teacher with plants grown in discarded bottles |
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| Kohoka - Students use computers during a computer literacy session |
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| Pulpuldoh - Unemployed young villagers attend our counselling and awareness session |
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| Satosha - Volunteers join Niranjan in cleaning the area around a hand pump before digging a soak pit |
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| Sauri - Our colleague Kamlesh conducts an environment education programme |
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| Turiya - Members of Shristhi SHG in their newly started tiffin centre |
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| Karmajhiri - Students who attended our two-day nature camp |
THE FULL REPORT
Team:
Conservation Officer – Sumit Kumar Kar
Field
Assistant – Niranjan Hinge (Turia cluster)
Field
Assistant– Kamlesh Pawar (Khamarpani cluster)
Major highlights of the month
· Open well mapping using
GPS and groundwater data collection from villages in buffer region
· Meeting with members of
Village Eco-Development Committee (VEDC) at Bisenpur
· Prepared two compost
pits, a vermi-compost tank and a soak pit
· Two-day nature camp held
at Karmajhiri complex attended by 20 students and 2 teachers
· Education program at 9
schools attended by 251 students
· Two
nature trail and birding sessions attended by 48 students
· 3 tribal dance programs organised
· 1 unemployed youth
placed in a job
· Five
farmers sent for training in mushroom cultivation
· Career counselling and
awareness session at Pulpuldoh attended by 15
· Mobile Health service
camps at 6 villages treating 179 patients
Conservation Action and Awareness
Satpuda Foundation organises
residential two-day nature camps every year to promote nature education and
sensitise local children about wildlife and forests. Moreover, practical, field
exposure helps these children in being better decision makers in the future
thus contributing actively towards wildlife conservation.
As part of our annual activities,
we organised a nature camp at Karmajhiri Tourist complex on 18th and
19th of December in association with the Forest Department. Twenty students
and two teachers of Turiya High School attended the camp.
The camp had a range of activities
to engage and provide information on a variety of nature and conservation
related areas. The students were taken on a nature trail to sensitise them
about the local flora and fauna and how these interact with each other.
The students were divided into
groups and given topics at the start of the camp and were asked to make
presentations on their chosen topics at the end of the camp based on
information gained during the sessions and on some of their previous knowledge.
A safari trip was also organised as
part of the camp to take students up close with wildlife of Pench Tiger
Reserve. During the safari, students observed various herbivores such as spotted
deer, sambar, wild boar, nilgai and bison and birds such as racket-tailed drongo
and grey hornbill. A tiger’s roar was heard but they didn’t get to see a tiger.
On December 31, Niranjan organised a voluntary work program
to prepare a soak pit in Satosha village. Five villagers volunteered to prepare
the soak pit along with our team. Niranjan had earlier explained to the
villagers the importance of water conservation and the need to improve the ground
water level with the help of water conservation structures like soak pits. The spillover
from the hand pump, mostly grey water which was resulting in a foul odour, now
percolates into the ground effectively thanks to the soak pit.
On December 21, Kamlesh organised
a nature trail for students of Doodhgaon Middle School. During the nature trail, Kamlesh and Sumit spoke about various birds found in the vicinity of
the village and their role in the ecosystem. Kamlesh also explained the utility
of various medicinal plants found in the forest.
On December 21, Niranjan organised
a similar nature trail for students of Durgapur village. Students spotted birds
using binoculars and were given tips on how to spot and identify birds.
Creativity can help in solving some major problems faced by humanity and
what better place to foster creativity than schools. In a discussion with students
and teachers of Kohoka Government Middle School, our team had mooted the idea
of a vertical garden where plants would hang in the air. Students had prepared
a few samples last month. During the second and third weeks of December,
students completed building the vertical garden project from discarded plastic
bottles and had them installed in their classroom windows. They had planted
seed of lentils, wheat and coriander. They monitored the plant growth and
calculated the growth rate of seedlings with the help of their science teacher Mr.
Santosh. The project was meant to teach students the concept of reusing old waste
materials for novel purposes.
A similar activity based on constructing nests from waste material was
undertaken by Kamlesh at Sauri Middle school on 5th December.
Kamlesh assisted students in building and installing bird nests near the school
to encourage youngsters to work towards conservation of birds.
On December 2, an awareness lecture was organised by Kamlesh at
Thuyepani to celebrate National Pollution Prevention Day. Kamlesh also
organised a rally on December 28 to spread awareness on pollution at Chirrewani
Government Middle School.
On 17th December, Kamlesh and Sumit attended a
meeting of Village Eco-development Committee (VEDC) members. VEDC is made up of inhabitants of the village, under the
supervision of the Forest Department, and works for sustainable development of the
village through funded projects such as installation of solar power lights,
biogas plants, solar fencing etc. During the meeting, various issues such as
stall feeding of animals, fisheries in village ponds, vermi-composting and
funding status of the committee were discussed.
On December 23, Kamlesh held a program at Chirrewani Middle School to
make a leaf book and tree atlas. The activity was based on collection and
identification of leaves of various trees found in the vicinity of the village
along with the listing of their properties such as medicinal values, fruiting
and flowering season. The activity was meant to create interest among students
in the floral diversity of the area.
Environment Education
In the month of December, a total of nine school education
programs were held by Niranjan, Kamlesh and Sumit
in which students were given lectures on a wide range of topics such as pollution,
man-animal conflict, biodiversity conservation and other issues related to nature
conservation. A total of 251 students attended
these lectures.
School Education Programs
Satpuda Foundation has been conducting an IT education program for students free of cost since 2013. Basic computer skills are taught to the students to make them feel comfortable with technology and improve their IT skills. During December, a computer awareness and hands-on practice session was held in Kohoka Middle School on 10th December. 27 students participated.
Employment Cell
During the month of December, one youth
of Turiya village was placed at the Corbett Foundation as a nature game coordinator.
Satpuda Foundation has been working with tribals for their
empowerment and exploring new employment opportunities for them. Since 2008,
the Foundation has been associated with the 'Saila Tribal Dance Group' of Sawara
village in Maharashtra, motivating them and supporting them to perform at local
resorts. During the month of December,
three such performances were organised.
Awarghani-
Tribal dance program at Olive Resort
On 20th December, a counselling and awareness
session was held at Pulpuldoh village for unemployed young villagers of the
village in which 15 persons participated. The attendees were provided information such
as duration, fees and scope of various skill development programs of government
and private bodies.
One of the activities related to
employment is supporting Self Help Groups (SHG) for starting and sustaining new
ventures that can give adequate financial returns. Discussion and support
during the last several months with Shristi SHG of Turiya made an impact in
December when the members decided to resume operations of a tiffin center. They
rented a shop near the Turiya-Awarghani road and started a meals service for
tourist and locals. Niranjan and Sumit assisted them in setting up their shop
and guided them on various business decisions.
During December, a training session on mushroom cultivation
was organised by our colleagues based in Maharashtra. Our team at Madhya
Pradesh informed farmers of the opportunity and subsequently Niranjan and
Kamlesh attended the training with five farmers. After the training, Bharat
Marskole of Thuyepani started mushroom cultivation at his farm. He was also
motivated by Kamlesh to construct and operate a vermi-compost unit.
Number of people mobilised for ‘Mushroom Training’ at Khudsapar:
Mobile Health Service (MHS)
During December, 179 patients were treated through Mobile
Health Service (MHS) at our free medical camps.
Research
Wells form an important source of groundwater for villages
in the buffer region of Pench Tiger Reserve. Often these wells are not properly
fenced nor do they have a proper boundary
in many cases. These open wells are a recipe for disaster, and as reported in
various cases, wild animals accidentally fall
into them. Satpuda Foundation has been mapping open wells in the
buffer region of Pench Tiger Reserve. Our team has been mapping location
of wells along with their groundwater level. The data was analysed in a Q-GIS
platform to reveal the location and the status of groundwater in the region.
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| An example of well data being recorded on a GIS map |
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