MAKING HOMES FOR THE BIRDS – AWARENESS ON BIRD CONSERVATION:

Nests making in EVS classes

         Our staff regularly took Environmental Studies (EVS) classes in different High schools. We always gave hand held trainings to the students rather than bookish memorization. The syllabus of EVS in Class VI gave emphasis on the life cycle of local avian species, its food habits, roosting lands, different nest making techniques, physical characteristics and colours, etc. In the month of September, 2012, two of our staff, Dhiman Mondal and Kankar Gayen who took classes in Maheshpur High school and Media high school respectively made a field survey on the birds and its different characteristics with the students of class –VI. The collected data from the surveys revealed that the numbers of birds were gradually reducing. When the students met the old people in the villages they came to know about some of the bird species like – sparrow, Bank Myna, vulture, Barn Owl, bulbul, common Snipe, little egrets, Swin ho Snipe, warbler, reed, Pipit and all kind of swampy land birds were going to extinct.

They also came to know the following reasons for the extinctions:

 Indiscriminate use of pesticides.

 Lace of space for their living.

 Most of the villages had no big tress and the birds living on the holes of the big trees were unable to survive.

 People were hunting them for flesh.

 Most of the swampy lands were being illegally occupied by the local land mafias and they were transferring them into ponds. The water became stagnant and unsuitable for the survivals of the swampy land birds, etc.



Nest installing in the trees

          They expressed their finding in charts and posters and also shared with the senior students. They decided to install some artificial nests for the birds in the tress adjacent to the schools. Whenever they proposed their ideas to the Class Teachers and Principal they immediately gave them the permission for the same. They collected unused earthen pots, wooden boxes and some utensils for making small houses for the birds. They made a number of small nests in their EVS classes and installed them on the trees. They made groups and started observing. Initially the birds were avoiding the nests but gradually they started living on it. In December, two volunteer from AID, USA visited Swanirvar and they also came to know from the students about their project. They visited the places where the small nests were installed and found that the birds were living happily. Now we are planning to spread this successful model in different villages.

Installing Nests on Tress

          Another aspect was that this work done by the small children also influenced their parents and they also took interest in bird conservation. In some villages, the villagers resisted the bird hunters/ Catchers and taken them to local Panchayats. Our youth groups also did  mass campaigns on the bird conservation in different villages.

Reported by,

Souren Sen,

KKB Team

Street Corners on Right to Education Act-2009

 

Meeting on RtE act-09 in Kolsur



          13 Dec, 2012:  A street corner meeting was held on Right To Education ( RtE) Act, 2009 at the adjacent area of Kolsur Gram Panchayat. The resource persons were two local teachers as well as the Berachampa Circle High School RtE Act-09 and the Barachampa Circle Primary School RtE Act-09, respectively, The Secretary, Kolsur High School, Local Shiksha Bandhu, Librarian, Ex- teacher and the recipient of National award, Amarendra Nath Das and many other retired teachers and educationist were also present in that meeting. On behalf of The West Bengal Education Network (WBEN), Susmita Chanda and staff of Swanirvar were also present. The meeting was started at 3pm with a group performance (stick dance) of the students of Swanirvar Primary school, Chandalati. Then the speakers expressed their opinions and different aspects of the RtE act, 2009 passed by the Indian Parliament. They also expressed the pros and cons and also told the audience how the common people would be benefited through it. They also expressed the roles and duties of the schools/ teachers / CBOs mentioned in the act. The meeting was ended at 7pm. Two similar meetings were also held on the same topics on 16^th Dec, 12 at Beliakhali and Chandalati villages.

Reported By:

Souren Sen

KKB Team, Swanirvar