Activity Update February 2019: Kanha

Highlights:

Sohanlal (of Manegaon) at  his new place of work,
Kanhatola Resort, Kutwahi.

Batwar - Students learn about nature and wildlife through nature games

Batwar- Khujlo Bai being trained in preparing vermi-compost 

Chapri - Kitchen garden set up with our help in Mathrabai Thakur's yard

Chapri - Volunteer team cleans the area around hand pump 

Kutawhi - Our colleague Amit discusses livelihood
and conservation issues with villagers

Manegaon - Compost pit dug in Hirondi Bai's backyard 

Mocha - Meeting with women's SHG on local issues
and the need to support conservation

Samaiya - Our colleague Sampathlal conducts
an environment education class

THE FULL REPORT

Team: Amit Awasthi – Conservation Officer

            Sampathlal Dhurve – Field assistant

           

Highlights

                                                                                                                                                  

·      3 voluntary work projects for community assistance to clear areas next to 2 hand pumps and 1 well

·      1 person trained in preparing vermi-compost

·      4 compost pits prepared in 4 villages

·      14 villagers apply for LPG connection under Ujjwala Yojna with our help

·      4 awareness programs on forest fires, vermi-compost, compost and use of cooking gas

·      2 kitchen gardens prepared

·      1 workshop with women’s SHG on livelihood issues and need for conservation

·      2 anti-plastic programs

·      Environment education program conducted in 11 schools – attended by 365 students

·      7 nature and wildlife film shows -- attended by 292 students

·      3 unemployed young villagers placed in local jobs through our Employment Cell

              

 Conservation work

On February 17, Amit and Sampath led a team of 8 people in a program to clear wild growth around a hand pump at Chapri. Growth of bushes and shrubs had proliferated around the well and access to the hand pump was affected. Our team, which comprised 2 young villagers and 4 women from the village, removed the wild growth and cleaned the area. Two similar programs were organised at Batwar on February 17 and Kutwahi on February 21.

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. On February 17, our team provided training on how to prepare vermi-compost to Khujilobai Maravi of Batwar village.

During February, we helped 4 villagers dig compost pits – Sevkali Bai of Batwar on February 3, Hirondi bai Markam of Manegaon on February 16 and Dhup Singh Mashram of Batwar on February 18 and Meera bai Invati of Kutwahi on February 21.     

During the month, we assisted 14 villagers in submitting applications for LPG connection under the Ujjwala scheme. We helped them fill up the forms and submit the required documents at the LPG distribution agency. They will get the LPG connections soon. Use of LPG will reduce demand for firewood and reduce the chances of human-wildlife conflict arising from instances of villagers venturing into forests for firewood.

We held 4 programs during February to promote awareness about conservation in villages. Details are given in the above table.

On February 2, our team organised an anti-plastic program at Patpara. Amit and 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. The team of villagers and 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 program was organised at Manegaon on February 10.

Education  

During the month, our team organised environment education programs in 11 schools in the villages in our area of operations.

Education van program

There were 7 film shows on nature and wildlife conservation in February.

Employment Cell

We helped 3 young villagers get jobs during the month of February.

We organised a meeting of presidents and secretaries of various women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs) operating in villages in the buffer zone. At the meeting various issues were discussed, including livelihood, skill-development programs for members and conservation.

Members from SHGs of Batwar, Chapri, Manegaon, Patpara, Sautiya, Kutwahi and Mocha were present.

Livelihood programs

2 kitchen gardens were prepared by Mrs. Mathra Bai Thakur of Chapri and Sumer Singh Markam of Manegaon under the guidance of Amit and Sampath. They were taught techniques to grow vegetables with less water and without chemical fertilisers. Our team also provided vegetable seeds to Mathra bai and Sumer Singh. The vegetable gardens will help to improve their family incomes and reduce their dependence on forests for livelihood.