Activity Update October 2016: Satpura Tiger Reserve

Highlights:

Aaditoriya - Embankment raised by our volunteers
to conserve soil during monsoon rains

Aaditoriya - Villager plants bamboo sapling

Bindakheda - Field assistant Hameed Khan conducts
environment education programme in village school

Chillod - Dr. Zanzal examines patient at our free medical camp

Jhiriya - Conservation Officer Ashfaq Aarbi
gives closing lecture of Wildlife Week programme.

Matkuli - Check dam built at Maili nallah 

Matkuli - Our Conservation Officer Ashfaq Aarbi
addresses gathering during Wildlife Week programme

Matkuli - Plantation programme during Wildlife Week

Matkuli - Villagers collect litter in anti-plastic programme
during Wildlife Week

Tekapar - Dr. Zanzal examines patient at free medical camp

Jhiriya - Children from village school clean a water body in the jungle 

Jhiriya - Villagers watch film on wildlife

Jhiriya - Waterbody being cleaned by volunteers

Matkuli - Students from village school build check dam

Matkuli - Students, teachers, Forest Department staff watch film on wildlife
screened during Wildlife Week

Matkuli - Villagers learn to make furniture from lantana

Mehandikheda - Field assistant Hamid Khan
speaks to students on a nature trail 

Pisuwa - Our field assistant Hamid Khan conducts
environment education programme in village school

THE FULL REPORT:

Team:             Ashfaq Aarbi – Conservation Officer

                        Hamid Khan – Field assistant                                                        

Highlights

·      Sapling distribution and plantation in 2 villages

·      7 water conservation shramdhaans during the month – built 3 check dams,  1  soak pit dug,  3 water bodies cleaned

·      1 programme on soil conservation

·      10 awareness programmes on vermi-compost

·      10 awareness programmes on Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan (public cleanliness)

·      Classroom visits to 14 schools as part of our environment education program – attended by 804 students

·      2 films shows on wildlife and nature conservation - attended by 85 children

·      Organized skill up gradation training programme at Matkuli for candidates trained earlier by us in making products from lantana

·      Medical camps in 6 villages -    135 patients treated

·      Visit to check on status of  6 villages which have already been relocated

·      Organized village meeting for livelihood training in relocated village

·      Celebration of Wild Life Week

Conservation

To kickstart the Wildlife Week celebrations, we organized planting of saplings in Matkuli and Aaritodiya village on October 1. A total of 200 Amla, Kosam, Maidachal, Gulmohar and Bamboo saplings were planted with the support of Eco Development Committee, School managements and Forest Department staff.

During October, we organized 7 programmes related to water conservation. 

On October 2, we organized a programme to build a check dam on a stream around 2.5 km from Matkuli village. The site is known as Maili nallah. A team comprising of 2 teachers, 22 students from Government Higher Secondary School, Matkuli and our field assistant Hamid built the dam. The resultant water body will benefit domestic livestock in the day time and wildlife at nights. Spotted deer, monkeys and leopards are seen in the area.

Similar programmes were organised at Aaritodiya and Almod on October 5 and 21 respectively.

On October 4, we organized a programme to clean a water body in the jungle around 5 km from Jhiriya village. The water body was covered with scum, leaves and organic litter and animals were finding it difficult to drink. Our team, consisting of field assistant Hamid Khan, 2 adult villagers and 12 children from Government Primary School, Jhiriya cleared the litter and made the water body accessible to the animals again. Spotted deer are regularly spotted around this water body while there are occasional sightings of sloth bears and leopards.  

2 similar programmes were organised at Barud on October 22.

On October 27, we organized a program to dig a soak pit at the Government Middle School (GMS), Matkuli. A team comprising of 1 teacher and 13 students joined hands with Hamid in digging the pit, which will take spillover water from a hand pump on the school premises. The pit will help to recharge the water table around the hand pump. 

On October 28, our team organized soil conservation programme in the jungle at Aaditoriya with the support of 5 members of the village’s Eco Development Committee. The site is located in the jungle around 3 km away from the village on a slope where there is usually heavy soil erosion. An embankment was raised to prevent soil being washed away by rains.

Education 

During the month, our team organized 14 lectures to educate students about nature and wildlife conservation.

Education Van

During October, our team organised 2 film shows on nature and wildlife conservation.

Employment Cell

Training programme

Zilla Panchayat Hoshangabad organized a programme to upgrade skills of candidates who had been trained in making products from lantana in a programme organized by us earlier this year. The organizers invited us to send 12 candidates from villages in our area of operations to be trained as carpenters. We identified 12 villagers from Matkuli, Pisuwa and Tekapar villages and sent them for the 15-day programme, which started on October 15. The entire cost of the programme was borne by National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

The villagers were trained to make clothes hangers, hair pins, photo frames, flower pots and letter boxes.

Mobile Health Service (MHS)

Satpuda Foundation organizes medical camps at which villagers get free treatment and medicines. These camps, whose schedule is set in conjunction with the management of the Tiger Reserve, are run by the Mobile Health Service (MHS) of Satpuda Foundation.

There were health camps in 6 villages in October.

Relocated villages

Ashfaq and Hamid Khan visited the relocated villages of Sonpur, Raikheda, Mongra, Jamandhonga, Dhargaon, and Nankot during October to follow up on the status of the relocated villagers.

The main issues raised by the villagers related to lack of employment, and poor approach roads. Shri A.K. Mishra, Joint Director, Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) has asked Satpuda Foundation to focus on youths from relocated villages in our livelihood activities.

In October, we completed a survey of unemployed villagers in the relocated villages of Raikheda, Jamandhonga, Nankot, Nandner, Sonpur, and Parraspani and prepared a proposal for livelihood training. STR management will approach the concerned government agencies to implement livelihood training programmes under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

Wildlife Week Celebrations

During the first week of October, our team organized a series of events in 16 villages across Pachmarhi, Denwa and Matkuli Ranges to celebrate the Wildlife Week.