Winter Nature Study Camp at Melghat - extreme cold didn't bother these enthusiastic youngsters!

NCSA's beautiful Community Resource Centre (CRC) at Melghat is the hub of many exciting activities - it's a biological research station, a meeting place for villagers and government officials, the venue for many skill-building workshops, an organic vegetable farm - and last but not least, it's where bands of enthusiastic school kids come for regular nature study camps.

A report by our Conservation Officer/Education Officer (and Sanctuary Young Naturalist Award winner) Vishal Bansod, on the Nature Study Camp, December 25-28, 2009:



Above: Some of the participants at the Camp



Above: Nature Study Camp group, December 2009



Above: Trekking



Above: The kids with Forest Protection Camp staff, Matakol



Above: At a tribal village

Below: Nature game



“What do you mean by Nature? Conservation? This is the place where you can actually understand these complex terms and issues,” said one of the participants of the Nature Study Camp organized by NCSA during 25-28 December, '09 at our Muthawa Community Resource Centre.

42 kids from Shri Ramkrishna Krida Vidhalaya, Rajeshvari Vidhya Mandir, Golden Kids English High School and School of Scholars participated in this four day Nature Study Camp along with four teachers.

After reaching to the campsite a well-planned programme was conducted right from the initial ice-breaking to the evaluation of the camp. On the first day Vishal Bansod gave an introductory talk to the kids about the area i.e. Melghat Tiger Reserve. During the evening the kids toured the Community Resource Centre (CRC) where they got information about organic farming, bio- diesel and its significance, the plant nursery and its working, water conservation, waste water treatment and other topics. Mr.Kishor Rithe made this visit more meaningful by making it easy for the kids to understand the importance and working of the CRC.

The first day started early in morning with a nature walk. We divided the children into three different groups and visited Thadada Area, Matakol Forest Protection Camp and Junada waterhole. This was a great experience for the kids because many of them for the first time entered a forest on foot. The kids got the opportunity to see many species of birds, plants and butterflies along with mammal pugmarks, a machan, waterholes etc. Afterwards the kids took part in a lively discussion on what they had learned during the walk.

We held some brainstorming sessions conducted by NCSA President Prof. Nishikant Kale and Mr. Prakash Laddha on eco-friendly festivals, Reuse-Reduce-Recycle, climate change and other topics. All the topics were explained with the help of different interactive nature games. These games played a vital role in giving the children important information informally, and many solutions came out during discussions.

On the last day Mr. Kishor Rithe delivered a lecture on “Importance of the forest and its relation with human beings.” During the afternoon session the kids visited the tribal villages Kotha and Bori. During this visit they came across many issues like livelihood, health and education. We held a separate discussion on this topic and the kids realized that not a single piece of forest can be protected without the help of local people living there. To evaluate the Camp we had organized a nature quiz. All three groups did well in this nature quiz but the Dolar group did exceptionally well and win the game.

Mr. Atul Tikhe, Amit Wadatkar, Adwait Keole, Neharu Yeole, Gajanan Shanware, Maroti Alokar and Sachin Ingole took painstaking efforts to make this camp possible.

Vishal Bansod
Conservation Officer & Education Officer
NCSA