Thursday, March 21, 2019

Activity Update February 2019: Pench Madhya Pradesh

Highlights:

Doodhgaon - Our colleague Kamlesh speaks to students
about nature and wildlife conservation

Khamba - Village children learn to spot and identify birds on a nature trail

Potiya - Our colleague Niranjan conducts
an environment education programme in the village school

Potiya - Our colleague Niranjan guides school students
on a nature trail on World Wetlands Day

Thuyepani - Our team speaks to villagers about forest fires
 and the need to help in fighting such fires

Thuyepani - Volunteers build soak pit 

Turiya - Manish, who got a job at a resort

Turiya - Members of women's SHG at a training programme

Turiya - Our colleague Niranjan repairs a faulty biogas stove

 Turiya - Our colleague Niranjan shows
how to make a bird bath from used water bottles
Turiya - Our collegue Sumit guides SHG members
on how to improve their livelihoods
Durgapur - Dr. Khode examines a patient at our free medical 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

·      Awareness meetings on forest fires attended by 26 villagers
·      Two voluntary work activities organised to dig soak pit and de-silt percolation tank
·      World Wetland Day on 2nd February and Global Recycling Day on 18th February celebrated.
·      Two nature trails and bird-watching sessions
·      Birdbath preparation and installation
·      Education program at 10 schools attended by 262 students
·      Film show program attended by 338 students
·      Selection of 10 unemployed young villagers for driving training
·      One unemployed youth placed in a local job
·      Training session on cooking organised for women’s SHG at Turiya
·      Mobile Health service camps at 6 villages treating 157 patients

Conservation Action and Awareness



















Forest fire in a deciduous forest with plenty of teak trees, as in Pench Tiger Reserve, can result in devastating consequences for the forest and all the animals in it. The recent forest fire at Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka state can be considered as an example of how damaging forest fire could be and highlights the need to be prepared for such an event.

With a view to avoid such tragedy, meetings on forest fires were organised by Niranjan and Kamlesh at Satosha and Thuyepani on 27th and 26th February respectively.

The agenda of the meetings was to increase awareness on the various causes of forest fires and their impact. Various measures to prevent such fires were also discussed. Volunteer groups were formed to assist the Forest Department in fire-fighting operations if required.

February 2 is celebrated as World Wetland Day to celebrate the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. One of the key findings of the Ramsar Global Outlook Report published recently is that wetlands are under far greater threat than forests.

Wetlands in the vicinity of forests provide drinking water to wildlife and humans and help in waste management as well. In order to explain the importance of wetlands, a nature trail and classroom lecture program was organised at Potiya Government Middle School.

On February 12, Kamlesh assembled a group of volunteers at Thuyepani to construct a soak pit. Kamlesh had explained to the villagers the concept of groundwater recharge and how soak pit construction can help in faster percolation of waste water and reduce the spread of water borne insect vectors. The soak pit was constructed near a hand pump used for drawing water for drinking.

On February 14, Niranjan organised a voluntary work program to de-silt a percolation tank in Durgapur village. Five villagers volunteered for the activity along with our team. Due to silt accumulation, the waste water from the hand pump was not able to percolate and was stagnating.
Niranjan had earlier explained to the villagers the importance of cleanliness and how water stagnation could create a mosquito problem. The villagers cleared the area of weeds and cleaned the soak pit, from which the excess water from hand pump operation, mostly grey water, now percolates into the ground effectively without overflowing.

With the arrival of summer, water availability for birds reduces. In order to involve students in conservation of avifauna, our team organised bird bath making in villages of buffer region. On February 18, Niranjan held an activity at Turiya Middle School to make bird baths out of used plastic bottles. Bird bath making from clayware was undertaken by Kamlesh at Khamarpani and Thuyepani. The bird baths were installed by the students who also volunteered to regularly fill these water baths through the summer.

LPG is a cooking fuel that reduces the need for firewood for cooking purposes, is convenient to use and also improves indoor air quality. The Government of India, through the Ujjwala Scheme, is providing free LPG connections to women of below poverty level (BPL) households.
Satpuda Foundation has been connecting the needy families with the nearest LPG distributor so they can avail of the benefits of the scheme and reduce their firewood demand. During the month of February, Kamlesh aided in filling forms and submission of documents of ten households of Kundai and Bisenpur villages.

Abundant cow dung in rural India is tapped via biogas plants to convert the organic material into biogas which mainly consists of methane. Biogas is a sustainable form of energy which is used mainly for cooking purposes, reducing the need for fire wood and thereby reducing pressure on forests. Biogas is produced from slurry of cow dung through anaerobic decomposition. Satpuda Foundation has been undertaking repair of faulty biogas production units and stoves. During the month of February, Niranjan repaired a faulty unit at Turia.

Plastic pollution is creating a menace all around. With the availability of plastic packing in numerous products, the rise of plastic waste is significant. The plastic litter not only makes the surroundings look dirty, it is often mistaken by herbivores as a food source. This results in death in some instances due to blockage of the digestive tract. Plastic waste often finds its way into water and results in water pollution. Satpuda Foundation organises anti-plastic programs in which volunteers help in gathering plastic waste and dispose of it properly. During the month of February, Niranjan organised an anti-plastic drive (on February 18) in Khamba village.

On February 24, Kamlesh organised a nature trail for students of Doodhgaon Middle School. During the nature trail, Kamlesh spoke about the various birds found in the vicinity of the village and their role in the ecosystem. Kamlesh also explained the utility of various plant and insect species found in the forest. Niranjan organised a similar trail on February 15 in Khamba village.

Grazing in the forests by livestock is an issue that affects wild herbivores and has the potential to lead to human-wildlife conflict. In order to address the issue, Satpuda Foundation is motivating farmers to adopt stall feeding. High yield cattle with stall feeding practices and proper fodder management techniques can help reduce grazing pressure on forests and supplement the income of cattle owners.

During February, our team met various farmers to identify those who could be motivated and demonstrated to them the benefits of stall feeding.

Mr. Jagdish Gohte of Kundai village was identified as one of the resource persons to train other farmers. He was identified by Kamlesh as a progressive farmer cultivating Napier grass (a perennial tropical forage crop) on his plot for stall feeding purposes. He will be assisting us in the coming months in providing technical support and will be providing samples of Napier grass to all interested farmers.

Excess use of chemical-based fertilisers has led to dropping farm yields and has turned many farm lands barren. Satpuda Foundation has been working to address this issue through the construction of compost pits. Composting recycles various organic materials otherwise regarded as waste products and produces a soil conditioner (compost). Compost is rich in nutrients. It is used, for example, in kitchen gardens, horticulture, and organic farming, thus completing the nutrient recycling process. Kamlesh organised the construction of two compost pits at Chirrewani and Kundai with the aid of volunteers from the village during February.

Environment Education

In the month of February, a total of ten 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 262 students were addressed through these programs.

School Education Programs












During February, we organised film shows in which 338 students from six schools participated. Documentaries related to various tiger reserves of India, the Western Ghats and the bird diversity of India were shown to students.










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. A computer awareness and hands-on practice session was held at Kohoka Middle School on 9th February in which a total of 16 students were involved.

Nature games

Nature games are a critical part of our education program as they impart important conservation-related messages through simple, interesting games. They are more interactive than traditional lectures and are more effective in capturing the attention of young minds. During the month of February, three such nature games were organised.







Employment Cell

Satpuda Foundation has been assisting local young villagers in obtaining employment by connecting them to potential recruiters. During the month of February, one youth from Gorakhpur was placed at the Arnyaani Pench Resort as a waiter with our assistance.





One of the activities related to employment at the foundation is supporting Self Help Groups (SHG) consisting of women for starting and sustaining new ventures which can give them adequate financial returns. A women’s SHG in Turia started a canteen in December, with our support and we have been mentoring the members in sustaining and improving their venture.

In February, we organised a training program to improve the members’ cooking skills with the help of Mr. Naveen Thapa, a local chef. The training program was oriented towards providing first-hand training in salad making, serving to guests and improving standards of cooking.

Separately, Kamlesh organised a preliminary meeting with SHG members of Kundai village on 27th February to discuss training of members and new business ideas for implementation.

During the month of February, Kamlesh selected 10 unemployed young villagers of buffer zone villages around Khamarpani for a commercial driving training program at Ashok Leyland Institute. The training of the young villagers will be funded by the Panchayat and Forest Department. The list off the young villagers has been submitted to the Forest Department.

Mobile Health Service (MHS)

During February, 157patients were treated through our free medical camps in the Turiya cluster. 








Research

A research project to understand the awareness level of farmers in the buffer region was undertaken by us. A questionnaire was prepared which included basic information regarding agriculture, knowledge about impact of fertilisers and pesticides on environment as well as crop raiding and significance of insects and birds in agriculture. The project is intended to study the awareness level among farmers and to identify areas which could be improved through training. The study was launched as a pilot project at Potiya village.

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