Thursday, February 21, 2013

January 2013 Activity Report: Satpura Tiger Reserve


Team:
Ashfaq Aarbi – Conservation officer
Vikram Parte – Field assistant
Umashankar Yadav – Field assistant

Highlights

·     5 voluntary work projects during the month – 2 to build soak pits and 3 to build check/stop dams.
·      Classroom visits to 18 schools as part of our environment education program – attended by 945 students.
·      6 unemployed youths placed in jobs at  Jabalpur/Bhopal at starting salary of Rs 3500/- per month
·      One programme to train youths as security guards



Conservation







During January, we organized 5 voluntary work projects related to water conservation.

On January 13, we organized a 'bori bandhaan' programme to build a check dam on a stream around 2 kms from Nayakheda village. 11 children from Government Primary School (GPS) Nayakheda joined hands with Ashfaq in making the check dam. The resultant water body will benefit domestic livestock in the day time and wildlife at night. Spotted deer and sloth bears are regularly spotted in the area.

The check dam built in the jungle at Nayakheda

















On January 13, we organized a programme to dig a soak pit at the GPS, Sonpur campus. 15 students from the school joined hands with Ashfaq in digging the pit, which will take spillover water from a hand pump in the school premises. The pit will help to recharge the water table around the hand pump.

On January 16, we organized a programme to build a check dam on a stream around 3 kms from Sakai village. 13 children from GPS, Sakai joined hands with our field assistant Vikram Parte in building the dam. The resultant water body will benefit domestic livestock in the day time and wildlife at nights. Spotted deer and sloth bears are seen in the area.

On January 23, we organized a programme to build a check dam on a stream around 2.5 kms from Raikheda village. 10 children from GPS Raikheda joined hands with our field assistant Umashankar Yadav. The resultant water body will benefit domestic livestock in the day time and wildlife at nights. Spotted deer and sloth bears are regularly seen in the area.

Water body created at Raikheda

















On January 26, we organized a programme to dig a soak pit at the GPS Suplai campus. 8 students from the school joined hands with Vikram in digging the pit, which will take spillover water from a hand pump in the school premises. The pit will help to recharge the water table around the hand pump. 

Education

During the month, our team made classroom visits to 18 schools to educate children about nature and wildlife conservation. 
















Environment education programme at Anjandana
















Environment education programme at Dhargaon



















Employment Cell

6 youths from both clusters got jobs in January thanks to our assistance.
Details of the placements are as follows:



Matkuli - Villagers at meeting organized by us
on local development and livelihood issues
    


 Training Programme

Centre for Entrepreneurship Development of Madhya Pradesh (CEDMAP) regularly organizes livelihood and skill-enhancement training programmes at Bhopal. They invited Satpuda Foundation to send candidates from our area of operations to a programme to train youths as security guards. We identified 5 youths from the two clusters where we work and sent them to Bhopal for the programme, which ran from January 22 to 26. Satpuda Foundation bore part of the expenses for the training programme.










Friday, February 15, 2013

COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT: BEHAVIOR CHANGE CONSERVATION CAMPAIGNS


International Course in Conservation Campaigns:

A new tool for Species Conservation 
with a Focus on the Tiger in India

















November 9-29, 2013
Amravati, INDIA

How environmental social marketing techniques can be integrated with education and communication strategies to produce focused, effective conservation campaigns

What: An international course on the use of education as an effective and practical conservation tool. The course will demonstrate how environmental and social marketing techniques can be integrated with overall education and communication strategies for solving environmental problems. The course will illustrate educational concepts and processes by demonstrating how they can be employed to assist in meeting the conservation needs of the tiger in India and the habitats on which they depend.

When: November 9 to November 29, 2013

Where: Amravati, India. The course will be based at Amravati University in Central India. Field trips to the Melghat Tiger Reserve and to Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve are planned.

Sponsors: The 20 day course will be sponsored and conducted by Satpuda Foundation, Environment Education and Conservation Global (EECG), Nature Conservation Society, Amravati, and SGB Amravati University. It will be conducted with the support and collaboration of the Wildlife Department of the State of Maharashtra.

Course Goals: The primary goal of the course is to demonstrate how behaviour change conservation campaigns can be effective and practical tools for solving environmental problems. As course participants return to their homes, they will have the knowledge, skills and experience needed to build effective campaigns that focus on a specific environmental issue or species of concern.

Who should apply: The course is designed primarily for people who develop, administer or conduct education programs dealing with tiger conservation or with natural resource conservation, sustainable development issues, or environmental and wildlife concerns. Participants may work for government environmental or resource agencies, ministries of education, zoos, universities, non-government organizations, museums, parks etc. The course is not designed to cover education about environmental matters in the formal school system.

Cost to Attend:  Tuition for Indian participants will be U.S. $300.  For international participants, the tuition will be $1,200.  Some partial scholarships will be available.

For more information on the course or to obtain an application, send an email to to emccrea@eecg.org or satpuda@gmail.com or ncsa.india@gmail.com


Kishor Rithe
Course Co-ordinator 
President, Satpuda Foundation



Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Schedule of the MHU, March-May 2013

This is the NCSA health camp schedule for the next three months. Anyone interested in volunteering, please email me on rajashree.khalap@gmail.com

Thanks!