Activity Update August 2018: IUCN Pench-Bor Corridor

Highlights

THE FULL REPORT

IUCN – August 2018

Mandar Pingle – Conservation Officer
Nilesh Telang – Field Assistant

Highlights:

·      Assisted two young villagers from Telgaon to set up mushroom cultivation unit

·      Arranged meet of Jai Seva Mahila Bachat Gat from Bidgaon; Panchayat Samiti extension officer present

·      Information regarding crop damage provided in Telgaon, Lohgad, Bidgaon, Temburdoh

·      Assisted one villager from Bidgaon to file for crop damage compensation

·      Assisted villager from Jaitgad near Bidgaon to file for compensation for goat killed by leopard

·      Rescued two rat snakes from Telgaon, villagers co-operate during rescue

Activities:

During August, Satpuda Foundation assisted two unemployed young villagers -- Shubham Gaidhane and Suchit Thakare – in setting up a mushroom cultivation unit in Telgaon village. Shubham and Suchit had taken part in mushroom cultivation training provided by Satpuda Foundation earlier, in July. A unit of 100 kg production capacity was set up by the young villagers. They invested Rs 2,000/-. Satpuda Foundation team also assisted them to market the mushrooms. They have received orders for their mushrooms from supermarkets and vegetable vendors in Nagpur. They will be selling the mushrooms at a rate of Rs 250 to Rs 300 per kilogram.

On August 10, Satpuda Foundation organised a meeting for members of Jai Seva Mahila Bachat Gat, Bidgaon village. During the meet, Extension Officer for Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission, Mr. Roshan Lakadkar provided guidance to the members of the group on starting micro enterprises. He gave information regarding various schemes being implemented by the Panchayat Samiti for self-help groups. Nilesh provided suggestions about micro enterprises suitable for the members of Jai Seva Mahila Bachat Gat.

On August 2, Nilesh provided information to villagers of Telgaon on the procedure to apply for crop damage by wild animals. During the meet, 25 villagers were present. Forest Guard Mr. Pauljhagade was also present during the meet. Nilesh read and explained the government resolution for compensation on crop damage by wildlife.

A similar meeting was organised for villagers of Lohgad on August 6 and for villagers of Temburdoh on August 5.

On August 4, Nilesh assisted Kamlakar Sarode, villager from Bidgaon, to apply for compensation for crop damage done by wild boars. On the night of August 3, wild boar damaged the cotton and toor crop in Kamlakar’s farm. Kamlakar requested Nilesh to help him apply for compensation. Nilesh helped Kamlakar to prepare all requisite documents and apply for compensation at the Range Forest Office, Khapa.

On August 11, Satpuda Foundation team rescued two non-venomous snakes (rat snakes) from Telgaon village. The snakes were inside houses and hence needed to be captured and released. On July 12, Satpuda Foundation had shown a documentary on snake bite prevention and snake conservation in the weekly bazaar of Telgaon village. As a result, the villagers, instead of killing the snakes, informed our Satpuda Foundation team and requested help. Mandar Pingle immediately informed Forest Guard Mr. Pauljhagade of Kalmeshwar range. After the safe capture of the snakes, Satpuda Foundation’s team and Pauljhagade released them in a forest patch away from the village. Young villagers from Telgaon helped keep the villagers calm during the rescue. Later Mandar requested villagers to keep their homes and surroundings clean to avoid such conflicts.

On August 31, Nilesh assisted Mr. Eknath Ranji Telkar, a villager from Jaitgad near Bidgaon in Saoner taluka, to apply for compensation for a goat killed by a leopard. On the night of August 30, a leopard killed a goat in the farm of Mr. Eknath. Eknath requested Nilesh to help file for compensation. Nilesh informed the Round Officer for Kelvadh, Mr. Rewatkar, and Forest Guard Mr. Munde. Nilesh helped Mr. Eknath to prepare an application along with the necessary documents. He also requested Mr. Eknath to not leave his livestock in the open during the night to avoid such conflicts in future.

Activity Update August 2018: Navegaon-Nagzira

Highlights:

Clearing the area around a hand pump, Asalpani

Wildlife film screening at Bolunda

Dr Khode at our free health camp at Chorkhamara

Unemployed villagers study details of skill-building development
programs at Jindatola

A water conservation structure being put up at Jindatola

Kodebarra plastic litter clean-up drive

Above, below: Mukund Dhurve teaches students to make eco-friendly
Ganesh idols

THE FULL REPORT

Team:

Mukund Dhurve         - Asst.  Conservation Officer

Jivraj Salam                 - Field assistant

Surajlal Tekam            - Field assistant                                                                            

Highlights

·      Joined Forest Department staff on patrols on 6 occasions

·      4 community assistance voluntary work projects to clean areas next to hand pumps at

·      4 anti-plastic programs

·      Organised 5 education programs in which 1,013 students were present

·      Organised 6 films shows on wild life for 699 students

·      7 unemployed villagers placed in jobs

·      Organised 2 meetings for unemployed youth

·      Organised 6 medical camps in which 269 patients got free treatment

Conservation  

Our team organised 4 community assistance programs on August 5, 7, 11 and 14 to clear areas around hand pumps at Asalpani, Bodalkasa, Chorkhamara and Mangezari. Unemployed young villagers from Mangezari participated in all the programs, led by Mukund and Jivraj. Details of the programs are given in the table above.

Water had spilled over while people drew from the hand pumps and had stagnated, leading to proliferation of mosquitoes and insects. Our teams cleared the area, removing scum and organic growth and dug canals to drain away the water.

Our team joined the Forest Department in day and night patrols on several occasions during the month. Details are listed in the table above. Besides our staff, volunteers from a youth club at Mangezari also joined in the patrols. The youth club was set up with our assistance and is mentored by our Conservation Officer Mukund Dhurve.     

During the month, our team organised 4 anti-plastic programs to clean polythene/plastic litter from villages. The programs were organised on August 5, 7, 11 and 14 at Asalpani, Bodalkasa, Chorkhamara and Mangezari villages respectively. Mukund and Jivraj organised the programs which were attended by villagers and Village Eco-Development Committee (VEDC) members. The plastic litter has been kept in our Mangezari office and will be sent to Tiroda for recycling.

The Government of Maharashtra has issued the buffer zone notification for the Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve. Following this, doubts have sprung up in the minds of villagers as to how they will be affected by the notification. Due to the doubts, some villagers are opposing the notification. To clear these doubts and misgivings, we organised a total of 4 awareness programs during August in Umarzari, Thadezari, Pitambartola and Sodlagondi.

 Education

There were 5 classroom education programs in August 2018.

Education van

There were 6 film shows on nature and wildlife conservation during August.

Employment Cell activities

During the month, we helped seven villagers get temporary employment with the Forest Department.  

Employment Cell Training activities

During the month, we helped 10 villagers attend a program which taught them housekeeping and hospitality skills suitable for the hotel industry. The program was held at the Pratham Arora Centre for Education at Sillari, Pench and was funded by the Pench Tiger Conservation Foundation.

MHS

There were 6 health camps in August.