TCSRD Round Up

A field study visit to the Momai forest was organised for ECO Club volunteers to study indigenous flora and avi-fauna.  The volunteers also undertook a flora survey and mapping of the endangered Gugal and other rare plants in the forest.

A total of 18 awareness programs cum knowledge sharing sessions on environmental issues and biodiversity conservation were organized for employees and their family members, ECO Club students, teachers and SHG members on topics including Global Warming; Climate Change; the Biodiversity of Okhamandal; Indigenous flora of Okhamandal, Snakes of Mithapur; endangered marine turtles of Okhamandal; coastal ecosystem conservation etc.

At Haldia too, 60 students from three government high schools participated in the awareness cum sensitization program on "Green Friendship in Scientific Context". The program sensitized children about water scarcity and different ways to harvest water. Issues related to bio-diversity, global warming, and pollution control were also discussed along with the demonstration of various solar products during the session. After the session, the eco club students came up with interesting “Water Harvesting” models. Overall, the session was very useful for the children as they got opportunity to interact with experienced faculties.

Carbon Neutral Village Project

Site visit to the project sites of SAMUHA, an organisation around Koppal city in North Karnataka was organisedto study their Carbon Neutral Village program and understand the various activities being carried out by them to address the Climate Change and carbon reduction issues.

Post the visit, carbon neutral village program has been initiated at the Poshitra village, Mithapur. Social survey of the first cluster of 100 households along withGPS mapping has been completed. Based on the survey results and the inputs from SAMUHA , future course of action is being finalised.

Mangroves Plantation Project

Mangroves are an important component of the coastal marine ecology and they help sustain a wide spectrum of marine creatures and birds. Work on establishment of mangrove nursery at Arambda salt works was initiated along with the removal of "Entromorpha" algae at the Rukshmani Creek site mangrove plantation at Dwarka during the reporting period. Regular surveys were carried out to record the waterfowl population at the plantation site.

Marine Turtle Monitoring

Work on monitoring of marine turtle nesting and mortality at six sites along the Okhamandal west coast continued during the reporting period. A total of 13 dead turtles – 4 Olive Ridley and 9 Green turtle – were reported at the Kala Tul, Mithapur and Sagardambeaches.Nesting of turtles was also reported along the Okhamadhicoast and at Sagardambeach.