Activity Update March 2013: Satpura Tiger Reserve

Highlights

   

·     5 shramdhaans during the month – 3 to build soak pits and 2 bori   bandhaans to build check/stop dams

·      Forest fire awareness programme at 18 villages

·      Classroom visits to 18 schools as part of our environment education program – attended by 783 students

·      5 unemployed youths placed in jobs at Jabalpur/Bhopal at starting salary of Rs 3,500/- per month

·      5 new self help groups formed in 2 clusters

·      One livelihood programme – to train 5 unemployed youths as security guards

Conservation

During March, we organized 5 shramdhaans related to water conservation. On March 3, we organized a “bori bandhaan” programme to build a check dam on a stream in the jungle around 2.5 kms from Khamda village. 12 children from Government Middle School (GMS) Khamda joined hands with our field assistant Vikram Parte in the programme. The resultant water body will benefit domestic livestock in the day time and wildlife at nights. Spotted deer, wild dogs, nilgai and monkeys are regularly spotted in the area. Gaurs are also spotted, although less regularly.

Raikheda - check dam built by our volunteer team

Forest guard J P Amole puts finishing touches to the check dam
at Raikheda

On March 14, we organized a “bori bandhaan” programme to build a check dam on a stream in the jungle around 4 kms from Raikheda village. 12 children from GMS Raikheda joined hands with Umashankar Yadav in the programme. The resultant water body will benefit domestic livestock in the day time and wildlife at nights. Wild dogs and monkeys are regularly spotted in the area. Gaurs are also spotted, although less regularly.

On March 27, we organized a programme to dig a soak pit at the Government Primary School (GPS) Sonpur campus. Umashankar led a team of 14 students from the school in digging the pit, which will take spillover water from a hand pump in the school premises. The pit will help to recharge the water table around the hand pump.

A similar programme was organized by Vikram at GPS, Sakai on March 28, in which 9 students participated. Another programme was held at the anganwadi (play school) campus at Mallupura on March 31, in which 8 students from the village’s primary school participated.

With the onset of summer, we have started to organize awareness programmes on forest fires – the harmful effects of the fires on nature and wildlife and how to prevent or contain them. Villagers sometimes start fires deliberately to clean the growth from the forest floor. Once the bush has been burnt, it becomes easier for them to spot and pick mahua flowers which fall to the ground during this season. Villagers collect the mahua flowers, dry them and sell them to local traders. This is a seasonal activity, which normally lasts a month or so. Villagers also say that tendu leaves which sprout after such fires are superior in quality and command better prices from traders. Besides, fires also spread sometimes from fields. Many villagers start fires in their fields after the harvest to clear away the waste and sometimes these fires spread to the adjoining forest. These local fires sometimes escalate into large scale forest fires and cause severe damage. It is, therefore, necessary to make villagers aware about the dangers of forest fires and explain to them the need to join hands in fighting this menace.

Bindakheda - Ashfaq talks to villagers about conservation

Forest fire awareness programmes

Education

During the month, our team made classroom visits to 18 schools to educate children about nature and wildlife conservation.

Employment Cell

5 youths from two clusters got jobs in March thanks to our assistance.

Details of the placements are as follows:

Self help group formation

During the month, our team guided villagers in forming 5 self-help groups (SHGs) in 2 clusters.

Part of Ashfaq's presentation to villagers about the SHGs

Training Programme

Centre for Entrepreneurship Development of Madhya Pradesh (CEDMAP) regularly organizes livelihood and skill-enhancement training programme at Bhopal. They invited Satpuda Foundation to send candidates from our area of operations to a programme to train youths as security guards. We identified 5 youths from the two clusters where we work and sent them to Bhopal for the programme, which ran from March 20 to 24. Satpuda Foundation bore part of the expenses for the training programme.

Khamda - Ashfaq interviews village youths for security guard training