Activity Update December 2014: Kanha

Team: Amit Awasthi – Conservation Officer

            Sampathlal Dhurve – Field assistant

           

Highlights  

·      1 voluntary work project programme on water conservation – check dam built at Pairijhodi nallah, Samaiya
·      One voluntary work project for community assistance – cleaning of area around well at Sautiya
·      2 anti-plastic programmes in school
·      4 awareness programmes on vermi-compost and cattle vaccination
·      2 nature trails for village children to promote awareness about nature and conservation
·      7 nature and wildlife film shows -- attended by 429 students
·      Environment education  programme conducted in 9 schools - attended by 246 students

                   ·      3 unemployed youths placed in resorts      

Conservation 

As part of our water conservation work, we organized a programme to build a check dam on December 26 near Samaiya. Amit Awasthi and Sampath led a team consisting of 6 members of Aarti, Durga and Sithala women’s self-help groups (SHGs) and 6 other villagers. The dam was built on a stream around 1.5 km in the jungle from the village. The resultant water body benefits both domestic and wild animals. Livestock from the village use the water body in the day while wild animals use it at night. Nilgai, gaur, spotted deer and sambhar are regularly spotted in the area.

  

In community assistance work, our team organized one programme to clean the area next to a well in Sautiya.

On December 13, Amit and Sampath led a team of 6 people in a programme to clear wild growth around a well at Sautiya. Due to heavy rains during the monsoon, wild growth had proliferated around the well. Our team, which comprised 6 villagers, removed the wild growth and cleaned the area.

We also held 4 programmes during December to promote awareness about vermi-compost and cattle vaccination. Details are given in the above table. Range Forest Officer (Khatiya range) Anshu Soni, Deputy Ranger (Khatiya Range) S C Thakre and Forest Guard (Mocha) Bhagirath Singh Kakodia participated in some of the programmes.

On December 10, our team organized an anti-plastic programme at Dhamangaon. Amit and Sampath spoke to the students of the village school about the harmful impact of plastic/polythene on the environment and motivated them to remove such litter from the village. The students went around the village, collecting plastic and polythene litter/waste, which were then buried in a pit on the outskirts of the village. A similar programme was organized at Kutwahi on December 19. Photos below.

Education  

During the month our team organized environment education programmes in 9 schools in the villages in our area of operations.

Sampathlal Dhurve at the Bhagpur school

Amit and Sampath led children from Patpara and Batwar on nature trails on December 21 and December 25 respectively. On the trails, they helped children identify various species of plants and animals and explained the importance of preserving our environment.

Patpara: Sampath tells children about water conservation during a trail

Education van programme

There were 7 film shows on nature and wildlife conservation in December.

Batwar - film show on nature conservation

Employment Cell

We helped 3 youths get jobs during the month of December.

Pradeep Pusam got a job at Pugmark Resort, Khatiya

Livelihood programmes

As part of our programme to help villagers find alternative livelihood options which will reduce their dependence on forests, we have been encouraging villagers, in our area of operations around Kanha, to take up vegetable farming. Due to the presence of several resorts around Mocha and a steady flow of tourists, there is good demand for fresh vegetables. Over the past 2 years, we have assisted around 30 villagers in taking up vegetable farming and they are earning around 500-1,000 rupees a week in additional income. The vegetable patches are typically of small size and located in the backyards of the residences. Some villagers have now got enough confidence to expand and are planning to use part of their farm land for this activity.

Chhatiya Bai tends her vegetable patch in Chhapri