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KIDS FOR TIGERS ACTIVITIES
May-December
2004
Under the KFT programme, Satpuda
Foundation carried out various nature walks in Nagpur
city. These walks were carried out at various beautiful
places in the heart of the city. The venues included
Telangkhedi Lake, Ambazari Garden, Japanese Garden,
Gorewada Forest etc. The main highlight of these walks
was that it was open for all ages.
August-November
2004
Slide Shows conducted for schools in Nagpur under the
'Kids for Tigers' programme
Under the KFT programme, Satpuda Foundation, Nagpur
conducted slide shows in 25 registered schools. These
slide shows covered a number of more than 6000 students
in Nagpur.
October
1-7, 2004
Wildlife Week celebrated in enthusiasm.
Under the KFT programme, Satpuda Foundation in
association with the Forest Department organized various
fun activities and inter school competitions during the
Wildlife Week. A 'Save the Tiger' rally was organized
which was attended by more than 5000 students from 35
different schools.
July
10, 2004
Teacher's
Workshop organized under the 'Kids for Tigers' programme
Under the KFT programme, a teachers training
workshop was organized at the Centre Point High School
to explain the various activities to be conducted under
the programme. This workshop was attended by more than
25 teachers from the KFT registered schools. Forest
Department officials, RFO Kishor Mishrikotkar and RFO S.
S. Notey were also present at the workshop, who
promised full support for the programme.
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December 2004
Madhav Tiger Conservation Fund
Madhav
is the name synonymous with innovation, love, passion
and hard work. Every year Madhav appears with different
tools of wildlife conservation. On 3 rd December 2004,
spotlight discovered Madhav, sitting among 1500 people
in a dark Tata Theatre at NCPA, Mumbai during Sanctuary-ABN
AMRO Wildlife Service Awards.
Madhav Subrahmanyam, an 8-year old boy, is fond of
wildlife. Help to save wildlife, has been his passion
now. Last year Madhav had earned some amount through
boot-polish for Tiger conservation. This year he
selected a different way of doing it. He prepared some
paintings of the Tiger and sold them to his friends and
relatives, in turn collected Rs.15, 000. He donated this
amount to Satpuda Foundation during Sanctuary-ABN Amro
Wildlife Service Awards, on 3 rd December.
Mr. Kishor Rithe of Satpuda Foundation while accepting
this invaluable donation announced that this amount
would be used to start Madhav Tiger Conservation Fund.
Other donors would be requested to donate amount in this
fund and the interest of the corpus fund would be spent
on Tiger Conservation in the Satpuras through Kids like
Madhav. Responding to this appeal, 21-year-old
Indrapratap Thakare, this years Young Naturalist Award
winner, announced Rs.5000 from his award money to this
fund.
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December 2004
Young Naturalist Award to Indrapratap Thakare
 The
youngest member of Satpuda Foundation, Mr.Indrapratap
Thakare, has been announced this
years “Sanctuary-ABN AMRO Young Naturalist
Award”. Maan Baruah from
Kaziranga
,
Assam
, Rahul Alvares from Goa and Aaron Lobo, also from
Goa
are the other three who also would receive this Award.
The
boy with the stick that is how villagers in the Melghat
and Tadoba Tiger Reserves often refer to Pratap Thakare.
He has a talent for befriending villagers and picking up
stray bits of information that offer clues to poaching
or illegal extraction of plants etc from inside
Protected Areas. First-hand information gathered by him
helped crack an illegal operation to smuggle musali
plants from the
Gugamal
National Park
in the Melghat Tiger Reserve in July 2003. Information
provided by him led to the arrest of the main traders.
At
21, he already has an enviable record of field
experience in conservation. From helping identify and
study the elusive Forest Owlet in Melghat and the Great
Indian Bustard in Nanaj,
Sholapur
, to tracking the endangered wild buffalo along the
Indravati
River
, he has helped gather data on some of central
India
’s rarest species. A member of the Satpuda Foundation
and Nature Conservation Society of Amravati, he has been
an integral part of these organisation’s activities in
central
India
for the last eight years.
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WCT joins Satpuda Foundation for ideal Resettlement of
Villages in TATR
 Satpuda
Foundation (SF) has started efforts towards helping
Government departments for the ideal resettlement of
villages in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). The
Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) has join this venture
and promised that they will stand to ensure that
villagers will be more than happy at the new place and
get the best facilities of education, health and
agriculture.
“Initially two villages Kolasa and Botezari would be
shifted and later on remaining four villages would be
given a chance” said Mr.Shribhagwan, Conservator of
Forest (
North Chandrapur
circle) who is in charge of the resettlement work.
“These initiatives from the NGO sector would really
bridge the gap and find more helpful and supplementary
to Government package and initiatives”, he added.
These two villages would be shifted near Kesalaghat in
compartment number 524 on Chandrapur Mul road.The
vegetation clearance and uprooting work is in progress.
173 ha area is already cleared and now efforts to
construct roads and other basic infrastructure is going
on.
SF and WCT have decided to
work together towards the common goal of development of
TATR. “Our priority, at present, will be the best
resettlement of six villages from TATR. Our objective is
to ensure peoples support to the resettlement and give
them better package, in co-ordination with the
Government” said Kishor Rithe, Secretary of Satpuda
Foundation.
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March
21, 2004
World Forest Day celebrated with protectors of
Melghat.
On 21st March 2004, the world Forest day celebrated in
Melghat Tiger Reserve by strengthening the lower staff
like Chaukidar, trekkers and forest Guards for effective
forest and wildlife protection works. Satpuda Foundation
donated the essential equipments like bicycles, shoes
,torches and water-bags , worth Rs.90,000 to this most
neglected section
of the Tiger reserve. The donation includes 30 bicycles,
a kit of torch, water-bag and Shoes to 80 lower cadre
forest staff.
Mr.
Ashok Khot, Principal Secretary (Revenue and Forest) of
Government of Maharashtra distributed these equipments
to the staff. Mr. Tasneem Ahmad Chief Conservator of
Forest, Amravati circle, Mr. Ramanuj Chaudhari, Field
Director Melghat Tiger Reserve were present as a chief
guest on this occasion.
Mr.
Kishor Rithe , Founder Secretary of
Satpuda Foundation
expressed on this occasion that SF always
wanted to strengthen particularly the lower
segment of the forest staff working at the ground for
the protection of Melghat Tiger Reserve, and hence
planned this package .He also assured the staff
that the organization would stand behind them and
their families in any difficult situation. He also
expressed his thanks to Mr. Blachandran Ramachandran
from Chennai, presently working at California
USA, who had donated Rs.1.26 lacks to Satpuda Foundation
for distributing this package for effective protection
of Melghat Tiger Reserve.
The
World Forest Day function was organized at Semadoh , in
Melghat Tiger Reserve. Principal Secretary Mr. Ashok
Khot promised the staff all kind of assistance while
stating the need for effective fire protection and water
conservation works. He stated that we have to go long
way and need to undertake more water conservation works
in the reserve. Principal Secretary was in the Melghat
Tiger Reserve from 19th March and visited three
resettled villages from Melghat Tiger Reserve and also
hold the meeting on resettlement issue.
Mr.
Ramanuj Chaudhari, Field Director of Melghat Tiger
Reserve welcomed this donation by saying that it will be
very useful for the lower staff while exercising their
duties.
The
office bearers of Satpuda Foundation, Nature
Conservation Society Amravati , four Dy. Conservator of
Forest and
the forest staff was present on this occasion.
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