December 2021

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Today we successfully conducted yet another activity 'Tree Tagging and Seed Dibbling' this time at SGNP,(Mulund Range) Khindipada, and we will be continuing the same for the coming weekends this month.

A total of 11 eager and enthusiatic volunteers joined us for the event.  The Volunteers did a phenomenal job by tagging 220+ tree saplings planted by us in 2 hours, which will futher help us in digitizing our plants.
They also sowed fever nut seeds throughout selective points at our site. We were also joined by Seema Muralidhara who took shots for the documentary film that is being produced for our project.
The volunteers liked this part of the event too!

We are thankful to all our volunteers who came and contributed, this work wouldn't have been done without you all!  

 Ringweeding: For our tree saplings to grow this is a necessary exercise to remove all the unwanted weeds/grasses some of which are invasive, from the sapling's surroundings. Weeds generally cover the whole landscape after the onset of monsoon and restrict native plant growth. Ringweeding is normally carried out to prevent weed competition with the plant. 

In this method the Volunteers remove the obnoxious weeds growing around our trees by their hands. Pulling out vegetation in a ring or a circle is recommended. 

· On the occasion of the Moth Week we conducted a mothing event to study the moths at the site on 5th September 2021 and to spread awareness about them. We had set up a light trap at the Hyde Park as electricity was not available at site. 23 enthusiastic participants had joined us for the 'Mothing Event' on the rainy evening. It included people of all age groups. Curious young children also participated and were keen to learn more about the fascinating moths. Moths too came and congregated on the white sheet, getting attracted to mercury vapour lamp. Dr. V. Shubhalaxmi started the programme with a brief introduction and later introducing children to the secret world of moths. She then shared  information about the lifecycles, habits, habitats, importance, and some interesting facts about the moths which started appearing on the white sheet. We're confident that the participants would have surely developed an affinity and genuine appreciation for moths after the session.

  KDMC Commissioner paid a visit to our project site to check the status of biodiversity park works. We informed him of the completion of Plantation and that maintenance works are one. We installed thematic zone signages prior to his visit so that he could see how the entire area is getting developed into Astral Garden, Bat Garden, Butterfly Garden, Medicinal Garden and Bird Garden. He was impressed with our work. He felicitated our chairman Shri Isaac Kehimkar.

Achari Kunta Lake Rejuvenation Project update:

The project was scheduled to commence in April 2020 and conclude by Sep 2021. However, due to various factors, the project activities were impacted, causing a delay in further implementation works. 

We completed the plantation of 5000 saplings with help of laborers, DCB employees, and community volunteers. Altogether around 133 volunteers joined in a clean-up drive and plantation activities. We planted 210 trees, 2105 shrubs, and 2685 herbs. A total of 5000 species of plants were planted. Plantation works have been completed at the project site with the installation of a drip irrigation system. In the previous records, 26 species of birds and 19 species of butterflies were recorded. To assess the diversity, we conducted a biodiversity survey which revealed that the lake comprises about a total of 43 species of birds, 30 species of Butterflies, recorded so far at Achari Kunta Lake. As the rejuvenating activities were initiated, more 16 species of birds, 23 species of Insects with an addition of 5 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians, and 1 Mammal were recorded, indicated it as the formation of a healthy ecosystem.