Monday, March 23, 2015

Auditing of preparedness for wildfire at Sharavathi wildlife sanctuary on 4/5th weekend of April

FOREST FIRE 


Forest fire causes imbalances in nature and endangers biodiversity by reducing fauna and floral wealth. Traditional methods of fire prevention are not proving effective and it is now essential to raise public awareness on the matter, particularly among those people who live close to or in forested areas.

CAUSES OF FOREST FIRE
Traditionally Indian forests have been affected by fires. The menace has been aggravated with rising human and cattle population and the consequent increase in demand for forest products by individuals and communities. Causes of forest fires can be divided into two broad categories: environmental (which are beyond control) and human related (which are controllable).

1. Environmental causes are largely related to climatic conditions such as temperature, wind speed and direction, level of moisture in soil and atmosphere and duration of dry spells. Other natural causes are the friction of bamboos swaying due to high wind velocity and rolling stones that result in sparks setting off fires in highly inflammable leaf litter on the forest floor.

2. Human related causes result from human activity as well as methods of forest management.  These can be intentional or unintentional, for example

• Grazers and gatherers of various forest products starting small fires to obtain good grazing grass as well as to facilitate gathering of minor forest produce like flowers of Madhuca indica and leaves of Diospyros melanoxylon

• The centuries old practice of shifting cultivation (especially in the North-Eastern region of India and in parts of the States of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh).

• the use of fires by villagers to ward off wild animals

• fires lit intentionally by people living around forests for recreation

• fires started accidentally by careless visitors to forests who discard cigarette butts.

The causes of forest fire have been increasing rapidly. The problem has been accentuated by the growing human and cattle population. People enter forests ever more frequently to graze cattle, collect fuel wood, timber and other minor forest produce. It has been estimated that 90% of forest fires in India are man-made.

EFFECT OF FOREST FIRE

Fires are a major cause of forest degradation and have wide ranging adverse ecological, economic and social impacts, including:

  • Loss of valuable timber resources,
  • Degradation of catchment areas,
  • Loss of biodiversity and extinction of plants and animals,
  • Loss of wildlife habitat and depletion of wildlife,
  • Loss of natural regeneration and reduction in forest cover,
  • Global warming,
  • Loss of carbon sink resource and increase in percentage of CO2 in atmosphere,
  • Change in the micro climate of the area with unhealthy living conditions,
  • Soil erosion affecting productivity of soils and production,
  • Ozone layer depletion,
  • Health problems leading to diseases,
  • Loss of livelihood for tribal people and The rural poor, as approximately 300 million people are directly dependent upon collection of non-timber forest products from forest areas for their livelihood.

​ As responsible trekkers and nature lovers, we should work towards saving our flora and fauna from wildfire. To start with, we plan to work with kogar range of Sharavathi wildlife sanctuary. Idea is to audit the preparedness for wildfire eventuality by department.   ​

Fallowing is the Itinerary planned.
3-4-2015
  • Start from Bangalore
4-4-2015
  • Reach Muppane nature camp. Freshen up and Have breakfast
  • Briefing about wildfire survey by Kogar range RFO.
  • Farm a subgroup and disperse.
  • Return to base camp by evening, have high tea and campfire time
  • Interactive session on various issues of forest conservation. session will be moderated by Mr.Imran Patel of Wildlife crime control bureau. This is autonomous body of National Tiger council.
  • Have dinner and retire for the day
5-4-2015
  • Freshen up and have breakfast.
  • various water sports activities like kayaking, canoeing and coracle ride in Sharavathi backwater
  • Have lunch and visit Jogfalls.
  • Start journey towards Bangalore.
Cost : Cost will be around Rs.1500/head. This includes food, stay, water sports activities and travel.
Please check photos of last month volunteer work on muppane clean up activities

By Sampath
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129701958@N07/sets/72157650665765307/

By Murali
https://plus.google.com/photos/115560532966265290012/albums/6121604679444710353?authkey=CLyJwOLxjvOG9AEPlease register ASAP. We are limiting participants to be at 25.

Regards
--
Sampath Kumar
Mob:   9663585591 / 9483694091

"Save Water, Save Energy and Save Earth for our next Generation"

Monday, March 2, 2015

Swatcha-Bharath(Clean-India) campaign at Muppane Nature Camp

Cleanliness and hygiene:

Cleanliness is Godliness...so said Mahatma Gandhi. In our country, people give least preference to cleanliness.Due to which, we have lots of infectious diseases spread among people which is avoidable with proper sanitation and hygiene. In India, After mahatma gandhi, only our current PM has given so much importance cleanliness. Little responsible public behavior from general public will go long way in achieving disease free, clean India.

Eco tourism and forest conservation:

Eco tourism can act as boon to forest conservation, in terms of monitory resource mobilization and volunteer mobilization. Our forests are under staffed,monitory support is majorly by govt budgetary allocation. Because of these, Its challenging task today to conserve our pristine forests.

But Eco tourism can also act as bane, if not managed properly. Our general public apathy towards clean public places has not left forests too. Our govt has declared tourism spots in forests all over for the benefit of general public. People who visit such places have scant respect for the hygiene and throw paper plates, water bottles and other type of (!)  bottles.,.One place, victim of such brazen apathy of tourists is Muppane Nature Camp.

Muppane Nature Camp:


Muppane nature camp has been setup by forest departments wildlife wing to be used by nature lovers for nature study,research and for over night camping. But alas, it has been used for partying by powerful ruling class. We have no complaint on that, but the way they treat this place is paining to any nature lover. They abuse the place in every possible way. This abuse causes serious hazard to wildlife in the forest.

Most of the time this kind of abuse happens right under the nose of insensitive officers.Luckily this time around we have a wonderful RFO, Mr.Srinivas Naik manning the Kargal range. Mr. Naik is MSc, forestry from prestigious agriculture university. A dynamic officer with sound knowledge on various flora/fauna and real love for wildlife. Ever since he took over kargal range, he has been asking me to make this nature camp activities more meaningful. We discussed various ways to make these camps meaningful. We decided to have one workshop in every quarter, which will have knowledge sharing among campers and also to create awareness on various forest issues among general public.

To begin with, we decided to have a "swatcha bharath(clean india)" program at Muppane camp.I planned this program after RFO narrated a incident at Brahmagiri Wildlife sanctuary. When he was a RFO there, an Indian gaur became blind.As forest watchers noticed a gaur acting blind, they informed RFO. Forest team noticed bleeding near gaur's eye. Forest team then started monitoring the gaur, but in few days it died due to excessive bleeding. During the postmortem process, they noticed a glass piece pierced near eyes of gaur. RFO then analysed the incident and came to fallowing conclusion. 

Most our trekkers knows Narimale forest rest house in Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary near Irpu falls. As usual, this place is abused by visitors by throwing bottles and other wastes in open near rest house. Usually gaurs and many other animals rub their head against ground when theres is hitch in the forehead. This particular gaur would have tried to rub the head against ground where a piece of glass thrown. So this piece pierced in to forehead near eyes and due to excessive bleeding gaur died eventually. In Muppane too, we have considerable number of gaur, spotted deer etc., The bottles thrown around the place may cause such injuries to wildlife. so we decided to have clean up to begin along with.

Program:

We started talking about this program couple of months back, but due to various reasons it dragged to month of February. Finally we fixed it for Feb 28/march 1st weekend. When i shared details of this program with vishwas, a very enthusiastic nature lover and  fellow trekker, he said he would pitch in with his team too. We announced the program in our respective groups, Facebook and various other Social Media. response was overwhelming. Finally it was 25 trekkers group,hired 2 Tempo Travelers, started off on 27th Friday night.

Reached Muppane camp by 7:00 am, freshen up and had scrumptious brakfast prepared by our cook Ganga and co. It was Idli,masala vada with sambar n chutney. We decided to have a trek for that day. So we traveled to Kanoor and reached a local house. We dumped all our backpacks and started off trek towards veegi falls 1. It was strenuous trail while on descent to valley. Finally we reached veegi falls 1 and many had a shower. We spent about an hour in falls. then continued the trek to veegi falls 2 along with beautiful stream. It was very pleasant to trek along with stream. By the time we reached veegi 2, lunch was ready. All of us had lunch and trekked back to the local house. By the time we reached house, Ganga had prepared delicious Malnada kashaya with Mirchi bajji :). Plan was to stay back there, but We decided to get back to muppane camp after dinner. Dinner got ready quickly. By 9pm we had dinner and packed off by 10PM. We started journey towards muppane camp and reached by 11:30pm. Quickly pitched tents and retired for the day !.



Swatcha-Bharath:

Woke up next day, freshened up and had tea. We were not in mood to wait till breakfast gets ready. So we started brooming tent base areas. Entire area was littered by falling leaves and many plastic/paper pieces. It took about an hour to clean entire area. By then breakfast was ready. It was poori-sagu and Avalakki.
After Breakfast, we were not in mood to waste time. We made 2 sub groups, selected 2 different areas and started combing the area. In about 2 hours time we picked up 10 sacks of bottles, plastic waste, polythene bags etc., 
RFO had some unexpected commitment, so he got late. After the clean up job, all of us wanted to get in to backwater for a refreshing swim. Picked up life jackets, rushed to backwater. swam for 2 hours and came back. Lunch was ready, had food.




Session on Wildlife Issues.

Though we planned to have interactive session with RFO, He surprised us by getting Mr.Imran patel along with him. Mr.Imran has vast knowledge on various wildlife issues. He has worked with Ullas karanth and now with Wildlife trade crime prevention society. Initially we thought of presentation, but later made it to be interactive session. I welcomed the guest. RFO begin the session with few of his experience in dealing with wildlife. then we handed over session to Mr.Imran patel.

Many interesting topics were discussed. Here  i am listing out them,

1) Reasons for Poaching wildlife: Many Chinese Medicines contain parts of wild animals, including those of endangered species. Whether endangered or not, poachers illegally kill wild animals in order to sell their valuable body parts to the industry. The industry is willing to pay substantial amounts to the poachers because of the baseless belief that certain animal parts have medicinal properties for humans.
2)Why only tiger conservation ? : There are very few people who understand the true importance of protecting the tiger. Most people feel it is only a matter of saving an animal that makes a beautiful sight to see. This reason only makes up a fraction of why we need to save this incredible animal. The tiger is at the top of the food chain in the jungles that it roams.The following is a very basic description of the chaos that would ensue if the tiger became extinct. If this was to happen, the populations of prey species like Spotted deer and Sambhar would burst at the seams. This excessive population would then totally ravage it's food source - vegetation. If the vegetation in the jungles was devastated, where and how would the insects survive. They may even shift to the crops in farmlands. If the plants in the jungles would be finished, what would refurbish the soil. If the soil was no longer fertile, new plants would not sprout. Over the years, this would probably mean the end of the jungles.
3)Type of forests we have and their characters
4)Issues affecting Sharavathi sanctuary
5)Tiger translocation and its problems
6)Tourism and conservation
7) many more.....
   



In total it was unexpected and fabulous session.It was wonderful platform to get clarified on myths, issues, problems on wildlife conservation.

Many thanks to wonderful group, RFO and Mr.Imran patel. We will cherish this program for lifetime.

You can check all the pics uploaded in fallowing links

By Sampath
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129701958@N07/sets/72157650665765307/

By Murali
https://plus.google.com/photos/115560532966265290012/albums/6121604679444710353?authkey=CLyJwOLxjvOG9AE


Note: Next program will be trek from chanagar -- > Yaana -->Vibhuti falls -->Gokarna. Will send you more information later in the week. 

      
  

      

   

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Swatcha Bharath at Muppane Nature Camp on 28th Feb 2015

Swatcha Bharath at Muppane Nature Camp 


Cleanliness is most important for physical well-being and a healthy environment. It has bearing on public and personal hygiene. It is essential for everyone to learn about cleanliness, hygiene, sanitation and the various diseases that are caused due to poor hygienic conditions. The habits learnt at a young age get embedded into one's personality. Even if we inculcate certain habits like washing hands before meals, regular brushing of teeth, and bathing from a young age, we are not bothered about cleanliness of public places. Mahatma Gandhi said, “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”

With our beloved PM himself taking forward Gandhiji's clean India mission, Many of us have contributed in our own ways to the great cause. 
As you are aware, in our trek trails, we give utmost importance to cleanliness. we see that no solid waste is discarded in forest. 
Most of you have participated our nature camp program at MUPPANE forest camp. Muppane forest adjoining to sharavathi backwater is very beautiful and great place to do over night camping. Most of you have experienced the camping on the shore of backwater. As this place is maintained by forest department, many non campers come here to do all sort of "enjoyment". Due to which, camp and surroundings are ridden with filth like plastic and bottles. 
Few years back, with active participation by school kids, cleaned up the area, but now again it needs to be cleaned up.
We are planning for one such program for February last weekend ie., 28 Feb and 1st March. Along with cleanliness, we also would organize a trek to a water falls on day 2 and also a session on flora of sharavathi valley in the evening.
Probable Itinerary is as fallows
  • On 27th Feb, Departure from Bangalore on hired vehicle. 
On 28th Feb,
  • Reach Muppane nature camp, freshen up, have breakfast
  • Briefing by local forester, make sub groups, start the clean up work
  • Assemble for the lunch, rest for a while
  • Enjoy water sports activities till evening
  • Session on flora of sharavathi valley and camp fire session
  • Dinner and retire for the day
On 1st March,
  • Freshen up and have breakfast
  • Start journey towards trek starting point.
  • Reach trek starting point and trek towards waterfalls. 
  • Reach falls and enjoy splash. Have lunch and relax
  • Start trek back to trek end point 
  • Travel jogfalls, spend sometime 
  • Travel back to Bangalore.
As this program is going to be mainly service, fee is collected based on the expenditure like travel and food. It does not attract forest fee. So Fee may come to Rs.1000 but it may varie. 
We are restricting group size to 20. Please register ASAP by emailing to prapancha@gmail.com .

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Zipline at our camp

Most thrilling activity at our Kanakpur camp is newly setup zipline activity. Our zipline is about 300mts. interesting aspect is , its water landing. Its so fun to land in a serene lake. After landing in water, u can hop on to waiting boat or u can continue swimming and kayaking in lake. Landing in lake is safe because u will be wearing a life jacket too ! so u dont really need to know swimming.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Very Happy New Year


Dear fellow trekkers and Nature/Adventure lovers,

As the new year rings in, we want to take this opportunity to wish you a Very Happy New Year and hope your year is full of Nature and Adventure.

It has been a while since we have communicated in the group. With a lot of activities happening on site, we have had very little time to communicate with you!.  Many old timers have been asking “Do you still conduct activities?! :) “

2014 was an eventful year for us as we channeled our resources and energies towards setting up of our new camp facilities at Kanakapura. We also added 'Jungle Stay' facility at Gobbagodu in Sharavathi.


Change is the only permanent guarantee and in keeping with our Vision of helping you to return to Nature for learning and relaxation, Sharavathi Nature Trails is now 'LifeTrees' Nature/Adventure Camp.

Be it us humans, birds or animals, trees give life to all the creatures of this planet and thus the choice of 'LifeTrees'


LifeTrees- Kanakapura Nature/Adventure Camp.


Our new Kanakapura Camp is located at Tulasidoddi on Kanakapur-Kabbal Road, at a short distance of just 50kms from Bangalore and is nestled right on the banks of the serene Hosadoddi lake next to the lush green Bananthimari State Forest. Our camp has something for everyone. You could be an avid trekker, a history buff or a wild life enthusiast.....if you seek adventure, we have it here for you.


Our Strength:

  1. We conduct Nature/Adventure camp and workshops for school and college students.
  2. We manage Corporate Team Outings. We also have expertise for managing your Company Leadership Training, Learning and Development needs.
  3. We have modules for Soft skills and Behavioral skills training and the programs are experiential with actual practice of the taught subjects.


Activities available at Kanakapura Camp currently:
  • Trekking:
    Trekking to Devara Gudda hill top in Bananthimaari state forest range.
  • Water sports:
    Kayaking, Canoeing , Calm water rafting, Dhingy paddling, Swimming, Water Games & Many more....
  • 300 meters long Zip Line with water landing
  • Rappelling / Bouldering
  • Dynamic obstacle Course (DoC):
    DOC is an exclusive team building activity that facilitates leadership skill development.
  • Team Outing
  • Experiential Learning


This camp is ideal for a day-outing and also over-night lake-side camping.

Please get in touch with us for a Customized Itinerary.

For virtual tour of Kanakapura camp, click on the link below

                          LifeTrees- Gubbagodu (Sharavathi) Nature/Adventure Camp.

A good ol’ fashioned bus ride of just 7 hours from Bangalore and you reach the picturesque back waters of Sharavathi at Gubbagodu. This bit of paradise is located near the world famous Jog Falls.
Our Camp site is ideal for Corporate Teams n Family outings and School/College/Student nature camp activities.
In case your heart desires more and you need bigger challenges, we can take you to our Adventure Camp in the beautiful Sharavathi Valley. If you are a serious trekker, our exclusive Treks will test your skills to the max. These treks have unexplored waterfalls and a multitude of splendid peaks which give you an experience of adventure, fun and thrills.
In our constant endevour to ensure you have a comfortable stay at Sharavathi, we would like to announce our new facility which includes 4 well-appointed rooms with baths attached. Tented accommodation continues to be available for those who prefer to camp out under the stars.


At Sharavarthi, you need a minimum of 2 days to enjoy all soft adventure activities. Should your heart find it difficult to leave after 2 days then be rest assured that you will still find many many more things to do in the serene lap of Nature.

Activities available at Gubbagodu Camp currently:
  • Trekking:
    Trekking to various serene waterfalls and peaks in Sharavathi valley.
  • Water sports:
    Kayaking, Canoeing, Calm water rafting, Dhingy paddling, Swimming, Water Games & Many more....
  • Team Outing
  • Experiential Learning

Please get in touch with us for a Customized Itinerary.

For virtual tour of Kanakapura camp, click on the link below

We look forward to your continued patronage and support. You are the life of our camp.Our commitment to Learning, Training and Adventure remains strong as we grow from strength to strength.


Best wishes from
Team LifeTrees
Web:  www.lifetrees.in    (will b up in a day or two )
Email: prapancha@gmail.com
Mob: 94 83 69 40 91 
          96 63 58 55 91 











Sunday, August 3, 2014

THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF TREES

THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF TREES


The Consciousness of Trees
In this real-life model of forest resilience and regeneration, Professor Suzanne Simard shows that all trees in a forest ecosystem are interconnected, with the largest, oldest, "mother trees" serving as hubs. The underground exchange of nutrients increases the survival of younger trees linked into the network of old trees. Amazingly, we find that in a forest, 1+1 equals more than 2.

Monday, June 23, 2014

11 Facts About Pollution

  1. 1. Pollution is one of the biggest global killers, affecting over 100 million people. That’s comparable to global diseases like malaria and HIV.
  2. 2. According to a 2012 study from Unicef, 2,200 children die every day as a result of dirty drinking water.
  3. 3. 14 billion pounds of garbage are dumped into the ocean every year. Most of it is plastic.
  4. 4. Over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year.
  5. 5. People who live in places with high levels of air pollutants have a 20% higher risk of death from lung cancer than people who live in less-polluted areas.
  6. 6. The Mississippi River carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each year, creating a “dead zone” in the Gulf each summer about the size of New Jersey.
  7. 7. Approximately 40% of the lakes in America are too polluted for fishing, aquatic life, or swimming.
  8. 8. Americans make up an estimated 5% of the world’s population. However, the U.S. produces an estimated 30% of the world’s waste and uses 25% of the world’s resources.
  9. 9. Each year 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste are dumped into U.S. water.
  10. 10. While children make up 10% of the world’s population, over 40% of the global burden of disease falls on them. More than 3 million children under age five die annually from environmental factors.
  11. 11. Recycling and composting prevented 85 million tons of material away from being disposed of in 2010, up from 18 million tons in 1980.