Tag: BNHS

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Event

Attend: ‘Land of Tiger’ exhibition at BNHS

If you’re enchanted by tiger tales and want to see photographs of tigers in India, this one’s worth a visit.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

BNHS, Hornbill House, at Fort is currently running an exhibition of photographs titlted the ‘Land of Tiger’. The photographs have been captured by Sanjay Karkare, Assistant Director, BNHS (Nagpur) and is centred on the Tiger Project of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and the sale of bamboo crafts made by the locals through BNHS support.

This exhibition showcases some stunning images that cover the rich biodiversity of five tiger reserves, viz. Tadoba-Andhari, Pench, Melghat, Navegaon-Nagzira and Bor. Nagpur, located in the heart of the Satpuda Tiger Landscape, rightly called the ‘Tiger Capital of the World’. There is no other city in the world with so many tiger reserves in such close proximity. The photos have been clicked during the last 10 years, during which Karkare and his team conducted nature education and awareness programmes in and around these tiger reserves. The pictures depict wonderful landscapes, incredible insects, avian beauties, various herbivorous and of course, the tiger. The exhibition also focuses on and aims to create awareness about important conservation issues from this landscape.

Bamboo Craft Exhibition

Bamboo is used as a livelihood resource in 40 per cent of the 79 villages around Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. BNHS realised the importance and sustainability of developing livelihood options from systematic bamboo cultivation on unused agricultural lands. The objective is to engage locals in conservation through such sustainable livelihood options. BNHS has been training them to make market driven lifestyle bamboo products, which fetch better value and in the process enhance their skills. A workshop has also been set up in Palasgaon. BNHS has also been arranging bamboo craft competitions. These activities are carried out with support from Born Free Foundation, UK and Tata Steel.

Head to BNHS, Hornbill House, near Lion Gate, Fort, up to June 5, 2015, from 10.00 am to 7.00 pm. 

Categories
Event

Participate: Flamingos and children’s creative competitions

BNHS, in association with the Mumbai Port Trust, is organising children’s creative competitions in three categories to celebrate Flamingo Festival.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mumbai is truly blessed to annually host beautiful flamingos every year, and making the occasion even more special is this festival.

BNHS, in association with Mumbai Port Trust, is organising three Children’s Competitions in the categories of Painting, Poetry and Slogan Writing. Winners will be felicitated at the time of the annual BNHS Flamingo Festival that will be held on February 28, 2015.

The competitions are open to children residing in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region only. These are the details and rules:

BNHS Children’s Competitions – Flamingo

Categories: Painting, Poetry Writing, Slogan Writing

Language: English, Marathi or Hindi

Age Group: Students of 5th to 8th standards

Eligibility: Those students residing in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban, Vasai-Virar, Thane, Bhiwandi, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ambernath, Badlapur, Ulhasnagar, Khopoli, Matheran, Karjat, Uran, Panvel, Navi Mumbai, Pen, Alibaug)

Last Date: Entries should reach BNHS before February 21, 2015 by post, courier or hand delivery

Rules:

– Paintings, Poetry and Slogans should be original

– Each participant can send entries in one or more categories

– Each participant can send only one entry per category

– Paintings should be sent on A3 size white drawing paper

– Poetry and Slogans can be sent on any white paper

– Do not send entries on glossy or laminated paper

– Do not stick anything on the paper

– All entries of one participant in different categories can be sent in a single envelope

– For Painting, any medium such as poster colours, colour pencils, crayons, etc can be used – Computer graphics will not be accepted

– Teachers can collate all entries of their students and send together

– Participants should write their name, age, standard, residence/school address, email, contact number and teacher’s name in pencil on the rear side of the paper

– Three winners will be selected from each category and prizes will be given on the occasion of BNHS Flamingo Festival (Sewri Jetty, Mumbai) on 28th February 2015

– Kindly note that no entries will be returned to participants

Interested? Ask your child to participate in the competitions and send entries to BNHS, Hornbill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, opposite Lion Gate, Fort, Mumbai – 400001. Contact number: 022-22821811 (Monday to Friday).
(Picture courtesy Siddhesh Surve)
Categories
Diaries

An office in the middle of a forest: CEC

This might be one of the coolest office spaces in Mumbai – CEC in Goregaon is located in the wilderness!
by Adithi Muralidhar

Part 4 of the ‘Green Hangouts’ diaries

The education wing of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) is located in the wilderness that lies between Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Film city, Goregaon. The Conservation Education Center (CEC) is situated in a 33-acre spread of forest which also includes some nature trails. If you live in the western suburbs, particularly close to Goregaon, CEC could become your regular weekend retreat.

CEC-2-AdithiWhat’s so special? When one makes their way into Film City, you will come across the sets of various saas-bahu serials, and you might think, where the hell is this CEC? Thanks to the film crew, a fair amount of rubbish can be seen strewn on the roads. But once you go past the last cluster of film sets that appear after the signboard that says ‘BNHS 450 m’, you see some beautiful forests and hear some amazing bird calls. And right there, in the midst of the forest lies this somewhat old building hidden well in the thickets of the canopy. A gate that says BNHS-CEC, Beware of Leopards, welcomes you.

Staffed with just a handful of people, CEC might be one of the coolest offices (in terms of the location) in Mumbai. During one of my recent visits to CEC, a friend of mine who works there showed me a carcass of dog on a tree that was right outside the CEC office building. The neighbourhood friendly leopard had made her way this side of the forest with a happy meal (of the dog) but then left it halfway for reasons unknown. And yes, leopards are common to this area, with sightings restricted usually to dawn, dusk and night times. They tend to steer clear of human beings and are not sighted very often.

Lots to see and hear. But the summer season apparently yields wonderful sightings of spotted deer, barking deer and wild boars who visit the water bodies near CEC to quench their thirst.  And it is during this season that the ever-elusive thirsty leopards let down their guard and come to the water hole.

It is a wonderful place to learn about butterflies and birds. Apart from this, the forests that surround CEC are a treasure trove of insects!  During the monsoons, there is a crisscross of streams that run through the forests which is an absolute delight!

Since the Centre’s main aim is to spread awareness among the masses, they have a wide range of programmes that cater to children, youngsters and families. If you also are very cecparticular about going green in your respective offices, CEC has customised programmes and workshops for corporates, too. On some occasions, CEC also organize night camps at their base, and the opportunities to witness “nightlife” in the jungle, whilst in the city is a rare thing! I would definitely recommend that everybody visits this beautiful forest.

CEC celebrated its 20th birthday this year and hopes are set on it becoming a permanent attraction at Film City. Over the years, CEC has made sure that the area surrounding it has remained green and vibrant with wildlife. It is our duty as Mumbaikars to help CEC maintain this thriving habitat.

Getting there: The nearest railway station to CEC is Goregaon (Western line) and the nearest bus stop is Film City. The CEC office is open from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm, Monday through Friday. But depending on the season, there are sometimes weekend programmes at CEC. You can keep yourself updated by checking here: http://www.bnhs.org/education-mainmenu/upcoming-programs-cec.html

Adithi Muralidhar currently works in the field of science education research, in Mumbai. She is associated with Hypnale Research Station where she assists with various environment, wildlife conservation, education and community-related projects. She is a strong advocate of nature education.

Green hangouts is a series of stories celebrating Mumbai’s place in the green scheme of things, to coincide with Wildlife Week, which is celebrated from October 1 to 7 every year. 

(Pictures by Adithi Muralidhar. The author would like to thank Amandeep Kaur, education officer at CEC, for her inputs in writing this piece.)

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