Highlights:
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| Firefighting in the Ghorad beat |
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| Villagers help to put out a fire in the Ghorad beat |
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| Celebration of International Day of Forests, Ghoti school |
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| Celebrating International Day of Forests in Awaleghat school |
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| Village volunteers dig a waterhole for wildlife in the buffer fores |
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| Pipaiya - a small waterhole for birds dug by our volunteers on World Water Day |
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| Volunteers clean a waterhole for wildlife in the buffer zone |
THE FULL REPORT
Team: Mandar Pingle – Conservation
Officer
Bandu Uikey – Conservation
Officer
Dilip Lanjewar – Community
Officer
Balkrishna
Bagmare – Community Officer
Highlights
·
Voluntary work programme to prepare
a water hole near Khapa
·
Voluntary work programme to clean
a water body near Chargaon
·
Assisted /organised 8
patrols during the month
·
Assisted in fighting fires
in forest on three occasions
·
Organised a meeting along
with Forest Department in Hiwara (Salai) village to address villagers on ways to
avoid man-animal conflict after increase in tiger sightings near village
·
Organised meeting of Vyaghra
Mitral Mandal Ghoti to address ways to avoid man-animal conflict after tiger
sightings near village increase
·
365 students addressed
during 12 classroom environment education programmes
·
Celebrated International Day
of Forests on March 21 in various villages
·
Celebrated World Water Day
on March 22 in schools
·
Celebrated World Sparrow day
on March 20 in Kadbikheda, 43 students participated
· Celebrated
World Wildlife day on March 3 in Ghoti village - 85 students present during
classroom lecture
·
Organised free coaching jointly with Deolapar
Police station and Pench Tiger Conservation Foundation to assist 42 youths who
were applying for recruitment to Police Department
Conservation
On March 28, Dilip Lanjewar organised a voluntary work
programme programme to prepare a water hole for wildlife in a nallah near Khapa
village. Dilip Lanjewar along with forest guard Mr. Sheikh and 6 villagers of
Khapa selected a site for the water hole, around half a kilometer from the
village. The site was selected in such a way that the wild animals will not
venture near the village in search of drinking water during the dry summer
season. A forest protection hut is also located nearby which will allow regular
monitoring of the water hole. The Village Eco-development Committee (VEEDC) members
have also decided to monitor the water hole regularly to make sure that nobody
poisons the water hole and the water stays safe to drink for the wildlife.
A similar water hole was prepared by Mandar and Dilip along
with 2 youths from Pipariya village in the premises of Satpuda Foundation’s
Community Center in Pipariya. This water hole will be used by birds and small
animals like hare, fox, jungle cat etc which are a frequent visitors at the
center.
On March
22, Balkrishna Bagmare, Community Officer for Satpuda Foundation, organised a voluntary
work programme programme to clean a water body near Chargaon village. A lot of
organic litter had accumulated in the water body leaving the water unsafe for
the wildlife that frequents it. During the summer time, if the
water sources are not maintained, the wild animals tend to venture close to
human habitation and this can lead to man-animal conflict. In order to avoid
this, the water body was cleaned. President of the Village
Eco-development Committee, Chargaon, Mr. Mohan Sonbarse, Forest Guard Mr. Raut
and 6 other villagers participated in the voluntary work programme.
On March 23, Bandu Uikey got information that a fire had
been spotted near the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh border in the Ghorad beat.
Bandu immediately informed the Forest Department staff in Ghatpendari village about
the fire. Bandu, along with 8 people including villagers and Forest Department
staff, reached the spot and ensured that the fire was completely put out.
In another such incident Mandar and Dilip Lanjewar assisted
in putting out fire in the forest adjoining Pipariya-Ghoti road. They also informed
Forest Guard Mr. Satish Raut regarding the incident. Mr. Raut later visited the
spot for investigation.
During March, villagers in the Pauni buffer area of East
range of Pench Tiger Reserve had spotted a tiger which had ventured close to
villages on numerous occasions. The tiger had also killed cattle, which created
a sense of fear amongst the villagers.
Due to an increase in the number of tigers in Pench Tiger
Reserve, some have started venturing outside the core area in search of
territory. Tigers also migrate using the corridors connecting Pench Tiger
Reserve to Navegaon-Nagzira in Gondia district or towards Bor Tiger Reserve in
Wardha district.
During such migrations, it has been observed that tigers sometimes
tend to venture close to human settlements. This can lead to conflict. Hence, proper
mitigation measures need to be taken by open discussions and awareness
campaigns in the villages in the corridors. In order to avoid any hate crime or
poaching of the migrating tigers, the villagers need to be taken into
confidence and involved proactively in the efforts to protect the tigers.
In order to achieve this, Satpuda Foundation organised a
meeting of the villagers and the Forest Department staff in Hiwara (Salai)
village in the Pauni buffer range of Pench Tiger Reserve on March 11. Assistant
Conservator of Forests Mrs. Geeta Nannaware, Range Forest Officer Mr. Pakhale
were present during the meeting along with other forest guards.
During the meeting, the VEDC members of the village were
also present. Mandar spoke to the gathering of villagers regarding the
precautionary measures that can be taken by the villagers in order to avoid any
conflict.
Mrs. Nanaware and Mr. Pakhale assured the villagers that
their staff will increase patrolling in the forest area near the village. They
also assured the villagers that in case of any cattle kill, the compensation
process will also be quick. Mandar then urged the VEDC members to participate
and assist Forest Department staff in the foot patrols regularly.
A similar meeting was organised earlier on March 10 in
Ghoti village during which 22 members of Vyaghra Mitra Mandal, Ghoti
were present. During the meeting, Mandar and Dilip discussed conflict
mitigation measures with them and decided to patrol the area on the village and
forest boundary more regularly.
On March 11, Mandar and Dilip Lanjewar assisted Forest Department
and Vyaghra Mitra Mandal members to
patrol areas on the boundary of Ghoti village and the forest as decided earlier
during the meeting in the village on March 11. The team patrolled during the
night and watched for signs of presence of tiger near the village.
Similar patrols were organised on March 12, 13 during
which members of the Vyaghra Mitra Mandal
actively participated.
On March 12, Balkrishna organised a community foot patrol
near Chargaon village. He led a team of 4 villagers along with Forest Guard Mr.
Raut in the patrol to check poaching during the Holi season. The team patrolled
the forest near Chargaon and Suwardhara both during day and night.
Bandu Uikey organised a similar patrol near Bandra nallah
near Ghatpendari village. 8 villagers participated in the patrol organised by
Forest Department, Satpuda Foundation and VEDC of Ghatpendari village.
Dilip Lanjewar organised a foot patrol on March 28 along
with 5 villagers of Khapa.
No illegal activities were observed or reported during
these patrols.
On March 20, Dilip Lanjewar celebrated World Sparrow Day
along with 43 students of Zilla Parishad Upper Primary school, Kadbikheda while
Balkrishna Bagmare celebrated the day along with 32 students of Zilla Parishad
Primary school of Chargaon village. During the celebrations, Dilip and
Balkrishna made the students aware of rapidly changing climate affecting
existence of numerous species. Rise in pollution, habitat destruction, human
disturbance, use of chemical pesticides in farming etc are causing most common
species like sparrows to go extinct rapidly. Birds being most sensitive to any
minor change in environment are one of the best indicators of any ecosystem.
Steep
decline in sparrow population both in wild or urban areas, is definitely an
indication of deterioration of ecosystems and a reason of concern for us all.
In order to make the students understand this and make conscious efforts to
improve the environment, Dilip and Balkrishna organised interactive classroom
lectures for the student.
On March 21, Satpuda Foundation staff celebrated
International Day of Forests 2017 and spread the message for this year i.e. ‘Forests and Energy’ to students of
various schools of buffer area of Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. Bandu
Uikey and Balkrishna Bagmare organised a film show for the students of Zilla Parishad
Upper Primary school in Awaleghat village.
During the celebration, the students were showcased a film ‘Queen of Trees’. After the film show,
Bandu and Balkrishna interacted with the students and discussed how forests and
human lives are related closely and we need to ensure that the forests are
protected for the generations to come.
Mandar and Dilip also celebrated the day in Zilla Parishad
Upper School in Ghoti village. 85 students were present along with members of
VEDC and 3 Forest Department staff.
Education
During the month of March
2017, Satpuda Foundation’s staff addressed 365 students during 12 classroom
lectures. The staff made students aware of various environmental issues through
interactive sessions. During this month’s classroom lectures, the staff
emphasized on the reasons and ill effects of forest fires caused by human
activities. They also made the students aware of the ways in which they can
help prevent forest fires by spreading the message to the village elders.
Details of the classroom
programs are as follows:
On
March 15, Satpuda Foundation along with staff from Pench Tiger Conservation Foundation
and Deolapar Police Station organised a meeting for 39 candidates applying for
recruitment to the Maharashtra State Police Department.
During
the meeting, Assistant Police Inspector Vishal Patil, Range Forest Officer Atul
Deokar, teachers of Zilla Parishad Primary school, Pipariya, and Police Patils
of several villages were present and provided guidance to the aspirants.
During
the meeting, Mr. Atul Deokar agreed to invite instructors from Pratibha
Institute, Nagpur, for training the candidates for the written exam. Later on
March 19, a free one-day coaching session was arranged for the candidates.
The
written exam is scheduled to be held in April 2017.
During
the month of March, Forest Department of Maharashtra state employed youths from
villages of buffer area of Pench Tiger Reserve as ‘forest fire watchers’ for
the next 3 months. These fire watchers are required to watch out for and inform
the officers about any forest fire during the summer season and also assist
them in controlling the fires. Satpuda Foundation assisted one villager in gaining
employment as fire watcher with the Forest Department.
In
addition, we assisted one villager in getting a job as an electrician.
Education van programme
There
were no film shows in March due to annual exams in schools.
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