Highlights:
 |
| Our Conservation Officer Mandar trains guides operating at Khudsapar Gate |
 |
| Our field assistant Bandu joins Forest Department staff on patrol in jungle in the Surera Beat |
 |
| Ghatpendari - Our field assitant Bandu teaches conservation to children through a game on Global Earth Day |
 |
| Ghatpendari - Our team discuss modalities of setting up a solar mini-grid to provide power to the village |
 |
| Ghoti - Our field assistant Dilip speaks to village children about mammals on nature trail organised by us |
 |
| Khapa - Dr. Bhasme examines Mrs. Anita Kokode, Police Patil of Khapa village at free medical camp |
 |
| Khapa - Our field assistant Dilip and Forest Dept. staff clean waterhole |
 |
| Khudsapar - members of women's Self Help Group are trained in tailoring |
 |
| Kirangisarra - Our field assistant Dilip and villagers clean and deepen a waterhole |
 |
| Pipariya - Ourfield assistant Dilip explains the significance of Global Earth Day to students of village school |
THE FULL REPORT
Team: Anoop Awasthi –
Conservation Officer
Bandu Uikey, Dilip Lanjewar – Field
assistants
Highlights
·
Mandar Pingle and Dilip Lanjewar assisted in
fighting fires in the forest on two occasions
·
Bandu Uikey arranged a meeting with
villagers of Saleghat to discuss relocation issues
·
7 voluntary work projects to clean waterholes
·
Mandar Pingle and Bandu Uikey demonstrated use
of litmus paper to test water quality of waterholes and to detect poisoning to Forest
Department staff
·
Field assistants Dilip Lanjewar and Bandu
Uikey joined Forest Department staff on anti-poaching patrols twice and five
respectively
·
Mandar and Bandu organized a meeting at Ghatpendari
village regarding Solar Power Grid Project
·
Dilip arranged meetings and training
workshops in Khudsapar village; 3 meetings for women’s self-help groups (SHGs)
on employment opportunities and one on training to work as guides
·
3 nature trails organized in April
·
Bandu Uikey arranged an visit to Nature
Interpretation Center for women of SHG from Kolitmara
·
6
medical camps in April – 157
patients treated; 111 patients were repeat patients while 46 were first time
patients
·
Vishwa Vasundhara Diwas (World Earth Day) celebrated on 22 April in Pipariya and Ghatpendari
·
Bandu assisted 2 youths from West Pench
range in getting jobs with Forest Department
Conservation
On April 22, Mandar Pingle and Dilip
organized and led a team of 8 villagers of Wagholi and 5 villagers from
Pipariya to support 12 staff of the Forest Department who was fighting a fire
in the forest. Round Officer Mr. Kendre had requested Satpuda Foundation staff
to arrange a team of at least 10 villagers to assist his staff in fighting the
fire.
The fire had started in
Mansinghdeo range of Pench Tiger Reserve and had spread towards Titralmangi
area of the Pench Tiger Reserve. The team used leaves and branches from trees
to douse the fire.
Mandar motivated 4 villagers of
Wagholi and led them in assisting Forest Department staff in firefighting on
another occasion on April 26.
On April 3, Bandu Uikey joined in
an anti-poaching patrol with Forest Department staff in the jungle near
Ghatpendari. On April 8, Bandu also joined Forest Department staff on a night
patrol. He again joined another patrol on April 9 with Special Tiger protection
Force (STPF) Range Forest Officer (RFO) Mr. Fulpagare in the jungle near
Narhar. Bandu also assisted Forest Department staff in patrols near Madhya
Pradesh border and Dhawlapur on April 10 and 17 respectively. Similarly, Mandar
Pingle and Dilip led villagers from Khapa and Wagholi on VEDC forest patrol, on
April 24 and 25 respectively in East Range of Pench Tiger Reserve. No illegal
activities were detected during the patrols.
On April 8,
Bandu Uikey led a team of 4 unemployed youths from Ghatpendari to join 3 staff
of the Forest department in a programme to clean a waterhole at Bandra Nallah
near Ghatpendari in core area of Pench Tiger Reserve. Leaves and other organic
matter had fallen into the waterhole and clogged it up, making it difficult for
wildlife to drink. After our programme, the water hole is being used by wildlife for drinking once again.
In the recent past many cases of
poisoning of water hole have come to light and it has been speculated that many
tigers have been killed by poisoning. Hence, Bandu demonstrated the use of
litmus paper to the forest department staff to check the water hole for
poisoning. Similar such programs were organized to clean water holes at
Datizira and Narhar on April 17, Kirangisarra and Tuyepar on April 27 and
Bakhari on April 30.
During these
programs, Satpuda Foundation staff provided metal wired brushes for cleaning
the algae deposits effectively and quickly. The use of metal wired brushes
reduced the time required for cleaning the water holes considerably and made
the cleaning process safer.
On April 28,
Dilip led 12 children from Sillari and Ghoti villages on a nature trail in the
jungle. On the trail, Dilip identified various species of local flora and fauna
and explained the need for conservation to the children. Dilip also played
informative nature games with the children. He then read to them about various
mammal species from the book titled ‘Bhartiya Stanpayi Prani’ (Indian Mammals)
and gave them detailed information on various mammals found in the forest close
to their village as well as other parts of the country. A similar nature trail
was organized by Dilip on April 29 near Sillari in which 16 children
participated.
On April 4,
Bandu Uikey organized a nature trail for 10 women of Kolitmara village. He took
them on a nature trail in nearby forest area and provided information on
various plant and bird species. Bandu explained the importance of biodiversity
and the need for conservation. Bandu also stressed the important role of tribal
women forest dwellers in conservation and urged them to actively participate in
various conservation activities. Later, the group visited the Nature
Interpretation Center in Kolitmara tourism Complex.
On April 22,
Satpuda Foundation celebrated ‘Vishwa Vasundhara Diwas’ (International Earth
Day) in various parts of Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra.
In East Pench
Range, Mandar Pingle and Dilip Lanjewar organized a seed plantation drive
followed by a film show in Pipariya village. 27 kids from Pipariya, Sillari and
Ghoti villages participated in the programme. 130 seeds of various local
species of trees like the Indian gooseberry, Heta etc were planted. Films on
issues related to environment and wildlife were shown.
In West Pench
Range, Bandu Uikey organized a classroom lecture followed by a nature trail and
nature games. 10 kids from Ghatpendari village participated in the
celebrations.
On April 13, Bandu Uikey attended a meeting on
Jan-Van Vikas Yojana organized by the Forest Department. During the meeting, there
were discussions on issues related to expenditure and works done under the
scheme. All the Presidents, Vice-presidents and forest guards representing different
VEDCs were present at the meeting. Dilip Lanjewar attended a similar meeting at
Satrapur on April 12.
Education
Due to annual examination and summer vacation, there were no
environment education programmes in schools in April.
Employment Cell
There were no training programmes in April.
We assisted 2 villagers in getting jobs as daily wage
workers with the Forest Department.
Mandar and Dilip organized
training programmes for guides of Khudsapar gate on April 19. During the programmes,
Mandar provided information on various birds, animals and trees found in the
forest area to 10 guides. Mandar also taught the guides ways to interact with
tourists and urged the guides to make sure they follow all the rules and
regulations. As there is an increase in tourists entering from this gate, this
training will help the guides to provide correct information about various
aspects of the forest to all tourists.
On April 20, Mandar and Dilip organized a training workshop for 8 women
of 3 different SHGs from Khudsapar village to make bags. With the rise in
tourism at the Khudsapar gate, and availability of a souvenir shop at the gate,
the SHG women can sell their products easily and will be able to earn their
livelihood. During the training, the women learnt to make bags of various
shapes and sizes. Ms Neha Dongre, of Pipariya village volunteered to teach the
women the techniques of making bags. Earlier on April 11, Mandar and Dilip had
arranged a meeting for 10 women of these SHGs and informed them about various
livelihood options like tailoring, pickle making, papad making, incense
stick making etc.
On April 7, Mandar and Bandu
assisted Ajay Poddar, Employment Cell Officer of Satpuda Foundation, in
identifying new candidates from Chargaon village for a programme to train them
as drivers of four-wheelers.
On April 6, a meeting was
arranged for youths who obtained their drivers’ license through a programme
conducted earlier. The youths were informed about various employment
opportunities for drivers by Ajay, Anoop Awasthi and Mandar Pingle. Another
such meeting was organized on April 10 by Mandar and Dilip in Pipariya village
for youths who had received their drivers’ license through a training programme
organized by us earlier.
Education van programme
There were no film shows in April due to annual examinations
in schools.
Mobile Health Service (MHS)
There were 6 camps in
April.
No comments:
Post a Comment