Pilot Project By Yash Salunkhe

To give an idea of the kind of community development projects that participants would engage in, I personally led the group, the SILVA AMICUS ( Latin for “Forest friends” ) to demonstrate the same.…. We engaged people throughout our project and made them aware of the importance of forests and the environment.

We have divided our project into 4 phases:-

To begin with, we volunteered to recycle paper in our school .

Moreover we interviewed a forest officer, who gave us his various inputs on the current condition of forests in India.

Additionally, we conducted a survey to show the difference between the mindset of city dwellers and rural inhabitants.

And .. Lastly , we went to a forest and helped in protecting it literally .

This is the f irst stage of our project, where we decided to start with something simple. And also, it seemed only r ight that we start from our school, which so actively part icipates in environment conservation, and inspires us to work for it .

Well, paper is required and used for anything and everything one can think of.

For every ton of paper, the paper industry guzzles up 2.8 tons of dry t imber besides electr icity and other resources.

Paper recycling is done in the following steps :The first step of the paper recycling process is the shredding of various waste paper like white paper, colored paper, magazines, newspaper, kraft paper.

At the baling press, the paper is soaked in water. It is then shaken to release the fibers to return them to their pulp state.

It is important at this stage to remove the ink. If we don't do this, we will be left with a dull gray paper. There are two ways to do this:

1. Chemicals are added to the water to separate the ink from the pulp and then huge quantities of water are added to flush out this ink. (This water is usually reused!!)

2. The pulp is bleached using hydrogen peroxide or chlorine. This process is less acceptable since the chlorine combines with organic matter to produce toxic pollutants.

We then add finishing chemicals. The pulp obtained is then pressed in a vertical press, which removes the excess water from the pulp.

The vertical press also helps convert the pulp into sheets.

These sheets are then dried in the sun, and after a few hours, recycled paper is ready to use.

Thus, we had compleTed The firsT phase of our projecT wiTh flying colors!! having made recycled paper for The firsT Time, we realized ThaT This really could be a viTal and smarT sTep To work Towards saving paper, and Thus, Trees.

Now, we reach the second phase of our project. With the help of one of our group members, we were honoured to be able to interview the Deputy Commissioner for Forests, Pune district, Mr. Mohan Dhere. He is a forest ranger. He was taught various methods to tackle problems currently endangering forests, and now he is in active participation in forest conservation.

Lets see what the Deputy Commissioner had to say….

Q. Which forest do you work in? What is the current condition of forests in Maharashtra?

Q. What are private forests?

Q. What laws has the government enforced to protect the forest cover of the country?

Q. According to you, what hinders the protection of forests in India?

Q. Are there any rules for farmers who cultivate farms close to forests?

Q. Mines mostly come up in areas with dense forests. Are there any provisions if such cases come up?

Q : sir would you like to give any message to the students ?

Mr. Mohan Dhere works in a forest near Baramati. He said that the state target of forest cover for Maharashtra is 15%. But the current forest cover is 8%. He also explained us about private forests, and the special laws governing them.

He mentioned some laws pertaining to general forests. Although, he also added that Indian law implementation requires much more stringency, since corruption and poverty in India is a major driving force behind poaching of animals and encroachment of forest land.

A f t e r t h e s e e n li g h t e n i n g w o rd s w i t h t h e f o r e s t ra n g e r. . . . w e t h a n k e d h i m a n d t o o k h i s l e a v e . . . b u t t o o k w i t h u s a f r u i t f u l a n d c h e ri s h e d e x p e r i e n c e .

As the third phase of our project, we thought of knowing exactly how we all feel and think about forests. Agreed that humans’ lives depend upon forests, but what is the approach of us humans towards our life source??

Lets find out……………..

Are you doing anything to conserve our environment and trees ??

What does forest mean to you ??

Q. If you were India’s environment minister, what would be your approach towards environment and forest conservation?? Offensive or defensive??

We, thus could analyze and realize the difference between a city dweller and rural dweller’s perception about forests. Though it is heartening to see that rural areas tend to be more closer and respectful to forests, it is also necessary that they have the right education to be more judicious in their use.

We city dwellers, on the other hand, have to bring in a realization in ourselves.. That it is time to return to our environment… if not anything else.. At least a token of gratitude and appreciation for our Mother Earth.

This is The fourTh phase of our projecT ….

foresT fires around BaramaTi area.

We all know that there are many fires caused due to various reasons in forests , but have we ever tried to find out what these reasons are ?

• Causes of fire are as follows:1. People light beedis and throw them ,

which causes fires 2. And when there is excessive hest

and when 2 branches of trees brush against each other and if by chance they fall on the ground then sparks are caused because of which the fire is caused

Measures to prevent these fires . The method we will discuss here is

called the sindi method of saving sindi method of saving forests . forests . • This measure of protecting

forests takes place from December to January .

• The area around and in the forets is put on fire with a tyre and by using the leaves of a “ tadi mari “ tree the fire is put off . Now , because the area in front of the forest is burnt , it saves the rest of the forest from fire .

Conclusion….

It i s imp e ra t i v e t ha t l o ca l s t ak e a s t and on t h e i s s u e s f a c ed by t h em, s u c h a s t h e l o ca l s s u f f e r ed mi s hap s o f f o r e s t f i r e s ow ing t o r ea son s exogenou s t o t h e i r env i ronmen t . Through our p r o j e c t , i t wa s qu i t e enr i c h ing t o in i t i a t e ou r own c i t i z en engagemen t in i t i a t i v e wh e r e in we r e c y c l ed pap e r , id en t i f i e d a p ro b l em t hrough in t e r v i ew ing r e l e van t au t hor i t i e s and by in t e ra c t ing w i t h t h e l o ca l s t h e r e . We a l s o en j oy ed do ing ou r b i t t o t r y and c on s e rv e o u r f o r e s t s .

Firstly, I would like to thank the World bank group for designing such an intensive and enlightening course, which had a good balance between theory and practice.

I would also like to acknowledge that the most active medium of learning was by-far from my fellow colleagues, whose posts I regularly read in the discussion forums.

And to express our deepest gratitude to Mr. Mohan Dhere for giving us his precious time and sharing his vast knowledge. Lastly, we also like to extend our vote of thanks to the inhabitants of Baramati for sharing their views with us .