For the nearly 25 families living in Lokkere on the eastern fringes of the Bandipur tiger reserve in Karnataka life is difficult.
Elephants and wild boar often raid the crops they cultivate on tiny strips of land, and an entire season's hard work gets wiped out in one night.
“Life is equally hard for the wildlife in this region. The thick forests that existed 30 years ago are reduced to sparsely vegetated scrubland, thanks to excessive cattle grazing.
“The animals are losing their habitats in a world that seems ever shrinking for them. Here one can visibly see that the lush dense forest thins out into scrublands adjoining the national park,” says Mr. Ramesh Venkataraman, managing trustee, Junglescapes Charitable Trust, Bangalore.
Fragile zone
The Lokkere hamlet lies in an ecologically fragile zone, close to a vital migratory corridor connecting the Western and Eastern Ghats.
Thousands of elephants use this route every summer to migrate from the parched Bandipur and Mudumalai national parks to water sources along the Cauvery river in the Eastern Ghats.
“Lokkere is just one example among many such remote and tiny hamlets bordering reserve forests. Protecting and restoring such buffer zones is therefore ecologically critical for both the local communities and the wildlife. These forests serve as a key buffer zone for tigers and act as natural rain water harvesters,” says Mr. Venkataraman. At present Junglescapes works on sustainable wildlife conservation ideas that involve and benefit the local communities.
“Over the last four years, we and the local communities in this area are working to create eco-friendly livelihoods, so that the people take care of the forests and in turn benefit economically from such ecological stewardship.
“Such community-based initiatives include afforestation, seedling nurseries, community-run nature camps and training of local youth in activities such as bird watching and lantana furniture making.
Rapport building
“Apart from funding, the group frequently visits Lokkere to interact and built rapport with the local communities,” explains Mr. Venkataraman.
Members from another NGO called GE volunteer group, also pitch for the afforestation projects. “We are also exploring a pilot scale effort to nurture saplings in their own backyards and kitchen balconies. Afforestation in addition to saving rain water also increases the height of the water table.
“In areas where afforestation is being done, water can be found at the depth of 6-10 feet but in other areas even at a depth of 250 feet it becomes hard to find it,” says a volunteer Mr. K. Anand.
Income
A 50-acre afforestation means infusion of around Rs 3 lakh into the local economy in terms of work in growing seedlings, digging irrigation trenches and planting saplings.
The ecological benefits of course are immense. The fragile migratory corridor would get greener, according to Mr. Venkataraman.
Junglescapes also pioneers the use of the smokeless eco-chulha designed by Philips as part of an initiative titled 'Philanthropy by Design'. These chulhas are a boon for women and consume almost two-thirds less firewood, so each chulha saves at least two trees every year. More importantly, they run almost entirely on lantana (rapidly growing weed).
Conflict reduced
“Forest forays for firewood collection has come down and consequently human-animal conflicts greatly reduced. They are smokeless and help avoid ailments related to indoor pollution and reduced cooking time,” adds Mr. C.H. Satheesha, another GE volunteer.
Training has been given to villagers to fabricate the chulhas locally, thus providing an eco-friendly employment opportunity.
For details log on to www.junglescapes.org and the organization at C-3, Cedar crest, 1st cross, 10th main road, Bangalore- 560038, email: bm.ragini@junglescapes.org, phone: 080-25295788.
