Activity Update March 2017: Tadoba

Highlights:

Children of Adegaon enjoy the sights and sounds around their village
on a nature trail with us

Bamdeli - village children finish their nature trail at the edge
of a picturesque lake

Bamdeli students enjoy an eco-friendly Holi and nature trail

Bamdeli students making colours with flower petals
for an eco-friendly Holi celebration

Kutwanda students learning how to make eco-friendly colours for Holi

Mudholi students making colours for Holi out of palash flowers

Adegaon: Our field assistant Kishor teaches students
how to make colors from flowers for an eco-friendly Holi

Kutwanda - Students participate in a cleanliness drive,
a weekly exercise started by our field assistant Kishor

A clean-up drive in Katwal, a weekly initiative

Weekly clean-up drive in Katwal

Dewada - Dr. Shailesh Pawar treats an elderly patient
at our free medical camp

Adegaon: Dr Shailesh at our free medical camp

Wildlife film screening at Bamdeli school

Bamdeli - On World Forest Day,
a student of the village school draws a picture
of the king of the forest

Bamdeli - On World Water Day, staff from the Irrigation Department;
students and staff of the village school pledge to conserve water

THE FULL REPORT

Field Staff:

Conservation Officer – Prameek Kannan

Field Assistant – Kishor Dudhbarai

Highlights

·      5 cleanliness drives in Katwal and Khutwanda with 117 participants

·  22 education programmes were conducted in 8 villages – Kondegaon, Katwal, Adegaon, Dewada, Junona, Mudholi, Bhamdeli and Sitarampeth with 887 students attending

·      5 film shows on nature and wildlife conservation

·      3 nature trails

·      2 classroom lectures on nature and wildlife

·      2 drawing competitions

·      14 eco-friendly Holi awareness sessions were held in 8 villages - Kondegaon, Katwal, Adegaon, Dewada, Junona, Mudholi, Bhamdeli and Sitarampeth with 680 participants

·      Our Mobile Health Unit treated 414 patients in Adegaon, Junona, Bhamdeli, UdiyaTola, Dewada and Chorgaon

Conservation

After starting an initiative of regular cleanup exercises in Katwal last month, the programme began in Khutwanda this month, with 5 cleanliness drives (2 in Katwal and 3 in Khutwanda) conducted on the 1^st, 7^th, 17^th, 23^rd and 29^th of March, with 117 participants.

Education

Education Van

With March 20^th being World Sparrow Day, we took 40 students from the Khutwanda Zilla Parishad school out on a nature trail through the fields and grasslands around their village, the preferred habitat of sparrows. One of the students asked why was there a day to honor a simple bird known locally as “Chimni”. Prameek asked him whether he’s been seeing a lot of sparrows around lately; the student exclaimed he hadn’t really taken notice of this. Then Prameek and Munindra proceeded to educate the students on how sparrows are dwindling in numbers across the country, and this is something to be worried about as this indicates shrinking grasslands, which are just as important to humans as sparrows. Along the trail, the students came upon the nests of a very unique member of the sparrow family, the Baya Weaver, whose pendulous nests the students found fascinating.

On March 21^st, we showed the students of Bhamdeli Zilla Parishad School a documentary on the king of their jungles, the tiger. The students learned about the secret life of the tiger, its interactions with the other denizens of the forest, and the challenges facing its survival in shrinking wilderness areas. After this, we conducted a drawing competition to encourage the students to express what they learned from the documentary.

On March 22^nd, we visited Bhamdeli Zilla Parishad School with the Irrigation Department to conduct an awareness session on water conservation, and how saving water is important for both people and wildlife to maintain balance in the ecosystem. The session included games to engage the students, and concluded with a song and a pledge to save water. The program was attended by Santoshji B. Sonekar (Sectional Engineer), Sanjay M. Paikrao (Civil Engineer), Nilay S. Rathod (Canal Inspector), Pramod E. Matte (Measurer), and Monika Sheraki (Clerk) of the irrigation department.

MHU

Our Mobile Health Unit treated 414 patients in 6 villages this month.