Activity Update March 2019: Pench M.P.

Highlights:

Kundai - Our colleague Kamlesh discusses business ideas
with members of a women's Self-Help Group

 Kundai - Our colleague Sumit explains the benefits
of stall feeding cattle to local farmers

Mohgaon - Dr Khode treats patients at our free medical camp 

Potiya - Niranjan explains the utility of 'palash' flowers
 as a natural colour for use during Holi

Thuyepani - Sumit explains importance of water conservation
during a nature trail 

Turiya - School boys pour water into a water bath for birds

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 meeting on forest fires organised at Khamba

·      Three voluntary work programs activities organised

·      Meeting on stall feeding for livestock at Kundai, Aamajhiri and Khamba

·      Education program at 7 schools attended by 168 students

·      Eco-friendly Holi Celebration on 19^th and 20^th March and World Sparrow Day celebrated

·      Three nature trails

·      Birdbath preparation and installation

·      Meetings of SHGs for training in cooking organised at Turiya and Kundai

·      Three unemployed young villagers placed in jobs

·      Mobile Health Service camps at 6 villages treating 244 patients

Conservation Action and Awareness

Grazing in forests by domestic livestock is an issue that affects wild herbivores and impacts predators such as tigers. 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. Last month, we identified a resource person to motivate and train cattle owners to adopt stall feeding practices. On March 31, we organised a meeting with Mr. Jagdish Gohte of Kundai village, a resource person for members of the Dairy Federation of Kundai region. The advantage of Napier grass cultivation and impact of it on milk production was discussed. The members showed interest in adopting the stall feeding technique associated with Napier grass cultivation. Mr. Jagdish has agreed to supply Napier grass.

A similar meeting was organised on 22^nd March at Khamba.

Mahua (Madhuca longifolia) flower collection is an important event for the buffer villages around Pench Tiger Reserve. Mahua flowers are an important NTFP (Non Timber Forest Produce) which contributes to the village economy. It is a common practice to set fire to grass and leaves beneath Mahua trees to aid flower collection. Although such fires are mostly supervised, some lead to forest fire incidents.

Forest fires in a deciduous forest of teak such as that of Pench Tiger Reserve can result in devastating consequences for the forest and wildlife. The recent forest fire in Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka state can be considered as an example of how damaging forest fires could be and highlights the need to be prepared for such an event.

With a view to avoiding such tragedies, awareness meetings on forest fires were organised by Niranjan at Khamba and Aamajhiri on 22^th and 25^th March 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.

On March 30, Kamlesh organised a nature trail for students of Thuyepani Middle School. During the nature trail program, Kamlesh and Sumit spoke about the various birds found in the buffer region of Pench Tiger Reserve and their role in the ecosystem. We also organised a visit to a nearby water hole to create awareness on water conservation and the importance of water holes for wildlife conservation. Niranjan organised similar nature trails on March 16^th and 17^th in Durgapur and Ambadi villages respectively.

On March 31, Niranjan assembled a group of volunteers at Aamajhiri to clean the area next to a hand pump. Niranjan had explained to the villagers the concept of groundwater recharge and how clean areas around the hand pump can help in faster percolation of waste water and reduce the spread of water borne insect vectors. The cleaning activity was done around a hand pump used heavily for drinking water purposes.

Holi is a festival of colours, celebrated across India. Often this festival is associated with the use of synthetic colours and heavy usage of water. In order to address these issues, we organised awareness sessions on how to celebrate Holi in an eco-friendly manner. Niranjan organised awareness sessions on 19^th and 20^th March at Potiya and Durgapur respectively while Kamlesh organised a similar activity in Thuyepani on 20^th March. The objective was to promote the use of natural colours such as that derived from palash (Butea monosperma), and reduction in water usage in the festival.

With the arrival of summer, water availability for birds reduces. In order to involve students in the conservation of avifauna, our team organised bird bath making in villages of the buffer region. To celebrate Sparrow Day on 20^thMarch, we organised a program at Turiya Middle School to make bird baths. The bird baths were installed by students who volunteered to regularly fill them throughout the summer.

Abundance of cow dung in rural India is tapped via biogas plants to convert the organic material into biogas, that mainly consists of methane. Biogas is a sustainable form of energy used mainly for cooking, reducing the need for fuel wood and thereby reducing pressure on forests. Biogas is produced from slurry of cow dung through anaerobic decomposition. Satpuda Foundation has been undertaking repair activities of defective biogas production units and stoves. Niranjan did a biogas repair activity at Aamajhiri village.

Satpuda Foundation has been promoting organic farming to reduce the impact of chemical-based fertilisers on farms adjoining forests. Composting recycles various organic materials otherwise regarded as waste products and produces a soil conditioner (the 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 a compost pit at Chirrewani with the aid of volunteers from the village during March.

Environment Education

In March, seven 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. 168 students attended these programs.

School Education Programs

Nature   games

Nature games are useful as they impart important conservation-related messages through  interesting and simple games. They are more interactive than traditional lectures and are more effective in capturing the attention of young minds. During March four such nature games were organised.

Employment Cell

Satpuda Foundation has been helping local young villagers obtain employment by connecting them to potential recruiters. During March, 3 young villagers got jobs with our assistance.

One of the employment-related activities of the Foundation is supporting of Womens’ Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in starting and sustaining new ventures that can give them adequate financial returns. During March, a meeting was organised in which Sumit and Niranjan discussed the status of money deposited with the SHG and how such funds could be used for productive income generating activities. Business opportunities which could be adopted by members, such as the making of mats, were discussed.

Kamlesh organised a preliminary meeting with SHG members of Kundai village on 29^th March to discuss training of members and new business ideas for implementation.

During March, we organised 6 meetings related to livelihood and skill-enhancement training programes.

Mobile Health Service (MHS)

During March, 244 patients were treated free through our Mobile Health Service (MHS) camps. 

Research

We are currently doing a research project to understand the awareness level of farmers in the buffer region of Pench on basic issues including agriculture, knowledge about the impact of fertilisers and pesticides on the environment, as well as crop depredation by wildlife raiding and the significance of insects and birds in agriculture. The project is intended to study the awareness level among farmers and to identify areas that could be improved through training. The study was carried out in the Khamarpani cluster during March.