Highlights:
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| Batwar - telling villagers about livelihood opportunities and skill-development programmes |
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| Bhagpur - compost pit being dug in Bhadu Singh Tekam's yard |
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| Chhapri - villagers plant saplings at Government Tribal Hostel |
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| Chhapri - clearing wild growth from the village paths |
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| Khatiya - workshop on basics of hospitality and housekeeping |
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| Kutwahi - villagers planting saplings |
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| Manegaon - villagers practising improved techniques in paddy farming |
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| Mocha - rally for Global Tiger Day |
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| Sautiya - children cleaning up plastic litter |
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| Global Tiger Day celebrations |
THE FULL REPORT
Team: Amit Awasthi – Conservation Officer
Sampathlal Dhurve – Field assistant
Highlights
· 2 voluntary work programmes for community assistance – area next to well cleaned at Batwar and wild growth cleared from road at Chapri
· 3 awareness programmes on snake bites and improved farming techniques
· Plantation programme – 1,320 saplings planted in 5 villages
· 3 compost pits prepared in 3 villages
· 6 paddy seedling beds prepared using improved farming techniques
· 2 anti-plastic programmes
· Global Tiger Day celebrated at Mocha – conservation rally, contests for students
· Environment education programme conducted in 9 schools - attended by 253 students
· 7 film shows on nature and wildlife – attended by 234 students
· 2 unemployed youths get jobs through our Employment Cell
· Arranged for 20 youths from villages in our area of operations to get trained in hospitality and housekeeping
Conservation
On July 16, Amit and Sampath led a team of 11 youths in a programme to clear wild growth from the main road in Chapri leading into Kursitola. Besides making movement difficult, the wild growth was also providing refuge to snakes and scorpions. Our team cleared away the wild growth, thus reducing the chances of people stepping on snakes and killing them.
On July 22, Amit and Sampath led a team of
8 people in a programme to clear wild growth around a well at Batwar. Due to heavy rains, wild growth had
proliferated around the well and access
to the well was affected. Our team, which comprised 8 youths from the village, removed the wild
growth and cleaned the area around the well.
During the
month, Amit and Sampathlal organised 4 awareness programmes on snake bites and improved farming techniques. Details of the programmes are given in the table above.
During the month, the following 4 farmers
were also taught to plant paddy using improved techniques:
As part of our monsoon activities, our
teams across the landscape motivate and organise villagers to collect seeds,
prepare saplings and dig pits so that a plantation drive can be launched once
the rains set in.
During July, we helped plant a total of 1,320
saplings in 5 villages. The species planted included mango, kanji, jamun, aawla, kanher, bamboo.
The saplings were provided by various
government agencies.
Our team encourages
organic farming as part of our strategy to reduce the impact of chemical
fertilisers on fields adjoining prime wildlife areas. Part of our work includes
assistance to villagers in setting up vermi-compost tanks and compost pits.
During July, we helped 3
villagers dig compost pits – Bhadu Singh Tekam of Bhagpur on July 2, Bhadu Lal Uikey of Batwar on July 12
and Balram
Uikey of Manegaon on July 15.
On July 9, our team
organised an anti-plastic programme at Sautiya. Sampath spoke to the villagers about
the harmful impact of plastic/polythene on the environment and motivated them
to remove such litter from the village. A team of students went around the
village, collecting plastic and polythene litter/waste, which were then buried
in a pit on the outskirts of the village.
A similar anti-plastic programme
was organised at Kutwahi on July 10.
On
July 29, Global Tiger Day, our team
collaborated on a joint programme with the Forest Department and World Wildlife
Fund in Mocha.
Due to our consistent
work in schools in the villages in the buffer zone, Mr. Sanjay Shukla, Director
of Kanha Tiger Reserve, had asked us to mobilise children for the programme and
to organise activities for them.
Accordingly, we
organised a drawing/painting contest with the theme of tigers and tiger
conservation. We also organised a rally, with students carrying
banners/placards and chanting slogans for tiger conservation.
A total of 49 students
participated in the contest while 260 students joined the rally. The students
were from Government High School and Government Middle School, Mocha and Middle
School, Patpara. Teachers from these
schools were also present.
Besides Mr. Sanjay
Shukla, other prominent officials present in the programme included Mr. Gulshan
Bawra, Divisional Commissioner, Jabalpur;
Dharmendra Verma, Director, Forest Research Centre, Jabalpur; Renu
Singh, Chief Conservator of Forests, Jabalpur; Sufia Farooqui, Collector,
Mandla and Dhirendra Bhargava, Chief Conservator of Forests, Balaghat.
Education
During the month our
team organised environment education programmes in 9 schools in the villages in
our area of operations.
Education van programme
There were 7 film shows on nature and wildlife conservation
in July.
Employment
Cell
We helped 2 youths get jobs during the month of July.
Hospitality and Housekeeping Training programme
Jagatguru Shankaracharya Institute, a private
agency based at Raipur in Chhattisgarh provides vocational training to youths.
Officials of the Institute approached Amit Awasthi to send youths from villages
in our area of operations to get training in “Hospitality and Housekeeping”
which will equip them with skills suitable for employment in the hospitality
industry.
Accordingly, Amit selected 9 youths from
our area of operations and they were included in a batch of 20 from the Kanha
region for the training programme.
The programme
was conducted at Khatiya, Mocha and was inaugurated on July 26 by Sanjay Shukla, Kanha Field
Director. After this training programme, arrangements
for employing the youths will be made in nearby hotels and resorts.
