Team: Saket Agasti - Assistant Conservation Officer
Bandu Uikey, Dilip Lanjewar – Field
Assistants
Highlights
·
One voluntary work project to build
a check dam at Sawara
·
Two anti-plastic programmes at Ghatpendari
·
Four nature trails held for students of villages in
buffer zone of PTR
·
Bandu and Dilip joined Forest Department staff
on anti-poaching patrols 3 and 2 times respectively
·
Organized village meetings at Narhar,
Ghatkukda, Kirangisarra, Khapa and Salai to discuss village development issues
through Village Eco Development Committee (VEDC)
·
Awareness programmes on the festival of Makar Sankranti
·
Conducted 12 environment education programmes
-- attended by 329 students
·
14 youths were identified by us for
vocational training
·
Organized 6 medical camps at which 201 patients
were treated
Conservation
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| Seeds of native tree species collected by village children. They will be used for plantation drives later in the year. |
On January 24, a check dam was built by Dilip and a team of 7 villagers from Sawara. The dam is situated on the fringes of Pench Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra. The water body created by the dam will provide water to domestic as well as wild animals. The water levels of the region are very low this season due to erratic rains. Our team explained the importance of dam structures in conserving water. . Deer, wild boar and jackals are spotted regularly in this area. Photos of the programme below.
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On January 19 and 25, Bandu organized an anti-plastic drive and village cleanliness program at Ghatpendari. The students from the school cleared the plastic litter around the school campus and villagers helped in cleaning the plastic waste from public places of the village. Awareness about village cleanliness was also spread on this occasion among the villagers.
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| Collecting trash from the school campus |
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| Cleaning debris from the public areas |
Makar Sankranti festival was celebrated on January 15. Hindus celebrate this festival as the day when the sun makes the transition from the south to the north. On this day, village women worship trees and we used the occasion to convey the conservation message to them. A film show was also organized for villagers on this occasion.
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| Women worshipping trees at the Makar Sankranti festival |
Dilip joined members of village eco-development committees (VEDCs) and Forest Department staff on patrols on January 7 and January 21 at Wagholi and Khapa respectively. The teams patrolled the jungle adjoining the borders of the villages. No illegal activity was detected on these patrols.
Bandu joined similar patrols on January
4, 6, 30 in West Pench Range. The team found fresh tiger pug-marks near Kolitmara
village. This was communicated to the concerned forest department officials to help
them take action to avoid any potential human-wildlife conflict.
Dilip and Bandu separately took students
on a total of 4 nature trails during which they spoke to the students about birds,
trees and forests. The impact of degradation of natural resources was explained
to the students. Photos below.
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Environmental Education Programmes
In January, we visited 12 schools to conduct programmes on
environment conservation in our area of operations.
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| Bandu explaining conservation issues to children in Ghatpendari |
IT Education Programme
Satpuda Foundation has been running a programme to introduce
computers to children living in the remote villages adjoining Pench Tiger
Reserve in both Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The Foundation has installed
computers in 3 villages and hired a local trainer to impart IT skills to
the children. In Maharashtra, this programme is being implemented in Sawara,
with computers provided by us, and in Pipariya, using the school’s computers.
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| At Sawara school |
Employment Cell
14 young villagers were sent for training programmes by Montfort
Integrated Education Center of Patansawangi, Maharashtra, for various skills in January.
SF identified the candidates with the help of our Employment Cell survey data.
Pench Tiger Conservation Foundation will assist the candidates financially for
the training fees.
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| Unemployed young villagers discuss livelihood options |
Education Van Programme
There were 4 film shows on
biodiversity conservation in January.
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| Film screening at Pipariya |
Mobile Health Unit (MHU)
There were 6 medical camps held in January at which 201 patients were treated.
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| MHU co-ordinator Siddharth Kale dispersing medicines free of cost |
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