The City-dweller and the Tiger: Activity Update August 2015: Pench Madhya Pradesh

Team: Anoop Awasthi – Assistant Director

Niranjan Hinge, Kamlesh Pawar – Field Assistants

Highlights

· Prepared soak pits in Kundai and Awarghani village.

· 13 nature trails for school children – attended by 168 students

· Organized plantation programme in 6 villages

· Distributed 2,810 saplings in 2 villages

· Organized anti-plastic drive in Teliya village

· One conservation rally on Independence day at Tuyepani village

· 13 environmental education programs – reached 253 students

· Organized 9 film show on wildlife which reached 639 students and villagers

· Celebrated Nag Panchami through awareness programmes on snakes at Awarghani and Tuyepani

· Organised 12 medical camps at which 185 patients were treated

· Assisted 5 youths in getting vocational training

· SHG “Shrusti Swasahyata Samuha Turia” earned 4,500 rupees through sales of detergent powder and pickles. The SHG is mentored by us.

· Identified 29 young women from 10 villages for training as guides. Forest Department will interview them and select suitable candidates

Conservation

On August 28, Anoop and Niranjan led 5 villagers and 13 students from Awarghani village to prepare a soak pit which will take the spill-over water from the hand pump on the school campus. They explained the purpose of the soak pit to the participants. A similar programme was organized on August 20 by Kamlesh at Kundai village with the help of 10 participants. Photo below.

In August, we organised a total of 13 nature trails for the children of Teliya, Kohoka, Satosha, Turia, Khamba, Ambadi, Jamuntola, Aamajhari, Teliya, Chirrewani, Kundai, Bisanpur and Tuyepani villages. On the trails, our staff spoke to the children about the various plants and common medicinal uses of those plants. They were also taught how to spot and identify birds. The role of birds in nature was also explained to the children.

Turia nature trail

Tuyepani - about to set off on a nature trail

Our team organized and assisted the Forest Department in implementing a plantation programme under the Biodiversity Conservation Rural Livelihood Improvement Programme (BCRLIP). During August, we helped the Forest Department distribute 1,610 saplings in Khamarpani and 1,200 saplings in Tuyepani. Species of the saplings distributed included bhel, eucalyptus, jamun, bamboo and karanj.

Plantation of seeds at Awarghani

Planting saplings at Bisanpur

Free saplings for villagers at Tuyepani through the BCRLIP

Free saplings at Khamarpani

We assisted the Education Department in organizing an Independence Day programme in Tuyepani village. A rally with a conservation message was organized and 155 students participated. Photo below.

On August 19, Nag Panchami was celebrated. On this occasion people worship snakes. Farmers also stay away from their fields on this day to avoid any incident with snakes. We used the occasion to promote awareness about venomous and non-venomous snakes, how to identify them and what to do in case of a snake bite. Photos below.

A meeting for the Biodiversity Conservation Rural Livelihoods Improvment
programme (BCRLIP)

On August 27, Anoop participated in a meeting on ‘’Garbage Management in buffer area of Pench”. The meeting was attended by the Chief Executive Officer of Janpad Panchayat, Kurai, Mr. Khushram and Sarpanches of Turia and Kohoka, around 21 managers of local resorts and members of the Gram Panchayat. The meeting decided that each resort would contribute 80 rupees per room per month towards garbage management. This amount will be given to the Gram Panchayat, Turia. Photo of the meeting below.

Turia: meeting on garbage management

The resorts have agreed to segregate their waste into 3 categories – bio-degradable, non-degradable and waste comprising glass and metal. Turia Gram Panchayat will send a vehicle twice a week to collect the garbage. The degradable waste will be converted into compost while the other two varieties will be kept in tanks and sent to urban centres for recycling in bulk.

There is no formal garbage management at present and waste is strewn out on to roads and in empty plots. This has led to a proliferation of stray dogs while wild life is also attracted to the food waste, leading to potential human-wildlife conflict.

Environmental Education Programme

There 13 environment education programmes in classrooms during August.

Kamlesh talking to students at Tuyepani

Employment Cell

We identified 5 unemployed youths to be sent for vocational training at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s training institute at Chhindwara. The training programme will be funded the BCRLIP initiative. Details of the youths are given below: